Malaysian Navy caught napping?

‘If the Malaysian navy cannot even react when the Chinese naval ships are 80km from Sarawak’s coastline, it will be too late if a serious incursion were to take place’

KOTA KINABALU: The federal government must show its commitment to protect the territorial waters of Sabah and Sarawak and provide the security that were promised to the Borneo States during the formation of Malaysia in 1963, said Bingkor assemblyman Jeffrey Kitingan.

“The promises of the then Malayan leaders to provide security for the Borneo States was one of the fundamental basis to persuade and induce Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia in 1963,” he said.

He stressed this while commenting on the recent incident where three Chinese navy ships had allegedly encroached into James Shoal, which is 80km from Sarawak shores.

He said the least the Malaysian government and the navy could have done was to position its French-built submarines near James Shoal as a show of its naval power.

“Its failure will show that Malaysian naval capabilities are weak. It will also reinforce the perception that the submarines were defective, could not dive or purchased as a museum piece to line the pockets of cronies with ill-gotten gains amounting to hundreds of millions,” he said.

He warned that if the Malaysian navy cannot even react when the Chinese naval ships are 80km away from Sarawak’s coastline, it will be too late if a serious incursion were to take place.

“Like in Pearl Harbour in World War II, foreign ships could have entered the shores of Sarawak, done damage and landed at beaches in Sarawak.

“Will the federal government need another Kampung Tanduo intrusion to happen in Sarawak before it takes the necessary action to safeguard the security and sovereignty of Sarawak?” he asked.

Jeffrey who is also chairman of Sabah Star also dismissed the denial by the Royal Malaysian Navy chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar who had denied reports that three Chinese navy ships had encroached into James Shoal.

Aziz, in comments published by local media on Wednesday, said the Chinese exercise, involving its newly commissioned aircraft carrier and a submarine, took place 1,000 nautical miles away from Malaysia’s 200 nautical mile economic exclusion zone.

He said Malaysia and the United States had been informed of the exercises beforehand.

“There has been no act of provocation on the part of the Chinese or threat to our sovereignty as they are conducting their exercise in international waters,” he was quoted as saying.

Where is the security for Sarawak?
Jeffrey described Aziz’s statement as a feeble attempt to deflect criticism from the public over Malaysian navy’s failure to safeguard the sovereignty of the country.

“Acting feebly and saying that the Chinese naval exercise took place 1,000 nautical miles away and that no such incursion took place when it was widely reported internationally is to deflect criticism.

“It will not portray the Najib administration as being capable of defending Malaysia from external threats,” he contended.

He stressed that the alleged China naval incursion and potential claim over the James Shoal and the Spratly Islands might have dire consequences for Malaysia and Sarawak.

He warned that if any foreign power is allowed to claim ownership of James Shoal, Sarawak’s territorial boundary may be reduced to its shorelines and coastal waters, and it will probably lose all its existing oil-wells and oil-rigs and its oil and gas resources.

“At stake is also Sarawak’s security and sovereignty as well as the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and exclusive rights that goes along with it, fishing and tapping of marine resources, seabed mineral exploration including oil and gas exploration and other economic exploitation.

“It also has to be remembered that the boundaries of Sabah and Sarawak as declared by the Queen in Council in 1954 extends to the continental shelf which is in most parts beyond the EEZ,” he added.

Jeffrey said if the Malaysian government could not protect Sarawak and provide the necessary security, there was no reason for Sarawak to continue to be in Malaysia, as the basis for the 1963 agreement to form Malaysia would have failed.

“The federal government need to face the truth and explain the James Shoal incursion and show its commitment that it is able to defend Sabah and Sarawak’s security and sovereignty. If it does not, there will be another failure in the basis of the formation of Malaysia,” he said.