The South China Sea is a crucial part of Malaysia’s maritime real estate. The sea defines the country geographically as it separates West and East Malaysia, and is also a vital economic artery, where most of our oil rigs and hydrocarbon deposits are located. However Malaysia’s sovereignty over the area is being tested with recent encroachments by Chinese coastguard vessels. One of these has been anchored near the Luconia shoals off the coast of Miri, Sarawak, for the past two years. This prompted the government to issue a pledge early this month, to protect and defend Malaysian waters in the South China Sea from being encroached on by intruders. We look at Putrajaya’s official policy and response so far to Beijing’s manoeuvres in the maritime area.

This is a report by Jason Lim.