A Chinese government ship has entered Malaysia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is around 140km away off the coast of Labuan.
The presence of the Da Yang Hao, owned by Beijing's Natural Resources Ministry, was first highlighted by Vietnamese observer Duan Dang.
Malaysiakini verified the claim by obtaining an Automatic Identification System (AIS) Satellite report which showed the Da Yang Hao was located at 6° 01' 23" N 114° 09' 47" E as at 6.07pm.
This was then cross-referenced with mapping data by the Flanders Marine Institute which outlined the boundaries of Malaysia's EEZ.
The combined data showed the Da Yang Hao to be deep within Malaysia's EEZ and near the boundaries of the EEZ between Malaysia and Brunei.
A country's EEZ extends 200 nautical metres (370km) out to sea or around 370km.
Google Earth estimates Da Yang Hao's coordinates from the AIS satellite report to be around 138km away from the Labuan coast.
The Chinese government took delivery of the Da Yang Hao in 2019.
South China Morning Post, citing Chinese state media, said the vessel has "the capability to conduct deep-sea resource exploration in any of the world's oceans" and would give China a "crucial advantage".
Shortly after Da Yang Hao was delivered in 2019, it encroached into Japan's EEZ.
The Japanese government claimed the vessel unloaded observation equipment in its waters and lodged a protest.
Petronas contracted ship
Duan Dang, who first observed Da Yang Hao's presence off the coast of Sabah, said it entered Malaysia's EEZ last night.
He added that the research vessel is being escorted by at least one China Coast Guard vessel - CCG 5202. He said a second China Coast Guard vessel CCG 6307 may also be involved.
Duan further noted that the Da Yang Hao, as at 10.20am Malaysian time today, was located around 50 nautical miles (93km) away from the West Capella drillship.
The West Capella, which sails under the Panama flag, is contracted by Petronas for oil exploration in the area.
In another update at 6.02pm, Duan shared on Twitter that the Da Yang Hao was as close as 12 nautical miles (22km) away from the West Capella.
The AIS satellite report obtained by Malaysiakini showed the West Capella's last position was MY - 5° 59' 28" N 114° 21' 47" E as at 8.39am.
Assuming that West Capella's position has not changed, the data corresponds with Duan's account.
Google Earth estimated the distance between the coordinates of the Da Yang Hao at 6.07pm and the West Capella as at 8.39am to be 23km.
The EEZ is established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea but the concept is not recognised by China, which claims most of the South China Sea of itself.
Previously, China military aircraft had also flown close to Malaysian airspace and did not respond to air traffic controllers in Kota Kinabalu, prompting the Royal Malaysian Air Force to scramble jets.
China has also maintained a near-constant presence near the Luconia Shoals located within Malaysia's EEZ off the coast of Sarawak.
Rising tensions
China's latest presence off the Sabah coast comes amid increasing tension in the South China Sea.
Australia, UK and the US last week entered into a security pact, referred to as Aukus, to help Australia with technology to build its own nuclear submarines and other defence arrangements.
The move was seen as an attempt to counter China's increasing assertiveness in the region.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had expressed concern that the Aukus could lead to an arms race in the South China Sea.
After the Aukus deal, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein proposed an immediate working visit to China to seek Beijing's views on the matter.
The opposition described Hishammuddin's position as "strange and misplaced", urging the country to maintain its long-held neutrality.
Former deputy defence minister Liew Chin Tong, when contacted, said the Royal Malaysian Navy would have already notified the government.
However, he said the manner in which the government responds has always been ambiguous.
"Eventually how Foreign Ministry would react is often a black box.
"Sometimes there are merits to play down the incident but I would prefer the Foreign Ministry make known to the public its actions, such as sending protest notes or calling the ambassador for an explanation," he said.
Liew said more coordination was needed between the Defence Ministry, Armed Forces and the Foreign Ministry.
"We need a stronger National Security Council (NSC) that includes the Foreign Ministry. Currently, the Foreign Ministry is not included in the NSC meetings," he said. - Mkini
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