'Don't want another Pulau Batu Puteh' - Khaled on Chinese ship sightings

 

Constant surveillance of the country’s coastal areas is important to avoid another “Pulau Batu Puteh”, said Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

He said this while commenting on the recent sighting of a Chinese coast guard vessel by local fisherfolk off Sarawakian waters.

Khaled stressed that constant presence by the country’s naval enforcement forces was crucial to guard the country’s sovereignty as foreign ships often ply the country’s waterways to flex their claim over the disputed waters.

“Our presence must be there all the time because we also want to give a message that ‘this is our area’,” he said in a press conference today.

“That is why we need to appreciate the role and responsibilities of the armed forces. There is no war but they do so much to protect the country’s security and sovereignty.

“Meaning without them (at the South China Sea), it would become like Pulau Batu Puteh where our sovereignty over land, sea, and air (in that area) is gone,” he added.

Pulau Batu Puteh is a small island between Johor and Singapore that is the subject of a long-standing dispute.

The island is internationally recognised as Singapore territory after the government in 2018 dropped an appeal to challenge an International Court of Justice ruling that did not favour Malaysia.

Special maritime operation

Last week, the New Straits Times reported that Malaysian authorities have launched a special maritime operation off the coast of Sarawak after detecting the presence of a Chinese coast guard vessel in the area.

Khaled had said that the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency ship KM Marlin has been deployed from April 1 to 10 under Operation Raja Laut to monitor the movements of the Chinese vessel identified as “CCG 5103”.

Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin

According to the minister, the Chinese coast guard ship had been in those waters for 11 days since March 30.

The special operation aims to keep a close watch on the foreign vessel’s activities in Malaysia’s maritime territory.

Khaled explained today that while the South China Sea can be traversed freely, a foreign vessel is considered to be trespassing if it drops anchor in Malaysian waters.

In such a situation, Khaled said the next course of action would be to alert the Foreign Ministry.

Multiple countries have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, which has been a long-standing source of geopolitical tensions in the region.