AVA - Malaysia’s Energy Needs Face Chinese Pushback in the South China Sea

Malaysian Prime Minister said Beijing has expressed concerns about energy activities by Malaysian state firm Petronas in the South China Sea.

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA)_Monitoring, 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.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $3 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes annually. Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan, 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.

In 2016, an international arbitration panel at The Hague ruled that there was no legal basis for Beijing’s claims over the strategic waterway. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, countries have special rights to exploit natural resources within their EEZ, which extends 200 nautical miles (370km) from the coastline.

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