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Beijing concerned over South China Sea energy projects: Malaysia's Anwar

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim tells parliament that Beijing was worried that state-owned energy company Petronas is carrying out a "major activity" in disputed seas but which is within Malaysia's 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

Reuters

Anwar said that during his recent to Beijing, he stressed that Kuala Lumpur sees the area in the South China Sea, where Petronas is operating, as Malaysian territory, but added that it is open to negotiations with China.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has acknowledged that Beijing expressed concerns about energy activities by the Malaysian state firm Petronas in the South China Sea, even though Kuala Lumpur believes the projects are in its territory.

Anwar's remarks come after he opened the door for negotiations with China earlier this week, in a sign of mounting pressure on Malaysia's energy operations in waters that Beijing claims as its own.

Anwar recently visited China and held talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, through which at least $3 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes annually.

Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan — the self-ruled island, and Vietnam have some overlapping claims.

Petronas operates oil and gas fields within Malaysia's 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and has in recent years had several encounters with Chinese vessels.

China was worried that "Petronas has carried out a major activity at an area that is also claimed by China," Anwar said on Tuesday, responding to a parliamentary question about his discussions on the South China Sea during his visit to China last week.

"I stressed... that Malaysia sees the area as Malaysian territory therefore Petronas will continue its exploration activities there," Anwar said, without specifying an offshore project or a location.

But Malaysia is open for negotiations "if China feels this is their right", Anwar said, adding the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc feels that overlapping claims should be resolved by negotiations.

Petronas declined to comment and the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur was not immediately available for comment.

China claims its territory via a "nine-dash line" on its maps, which cuts into the EEZs of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, however, ruled in 2016 that China's nine-dash line, which stretches as far as 1,500 km off its coastline, has no historical and legal basis.

US think tank, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), last week said a Chinese coast guard vessel was for the past month operating near Petronas' Kasawari gas development off Malaysia's Sarawak state, and came as close as 1.5 miles of the project.

A Malaysian navy ship was in the area, AMTI said.

The Kasawari field holds an estimated three trillion cubic feet of gas reserves and is expected to start production this year.

China foreign ministry on Monday said they were not aware of the specific incident but said the conduct of the China coast guard is beyond reproach.

Anwar, in his parliamentary comments, said China believes its ships were in international waters.

Malaysia's foreign ministry will issue a protest note if there were "collisions" between Malaysian and Chinese vessels there, Anwar said.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies