馬來西亞總理表示，儘管中國抗議，不會停止南海勘探

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Malaysia will not stop South China Sea exploration despite China protests, PM says

Reuters

Wed, September 4, 2024 at 10:04 p.m. PDT·2 min read

(Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday the country will not stop its oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea despite claims by Beijing that Malaysia was infringing on its territory.

Anwar, speaking from Russia where he is on an official trip, said Malaysia's exploration activities were within its territory and were not intended to be provocative or hostile towards China, with whom it has friendly relations.

"Of course, we will have to operate in our waters and secure economic advantage, including drilling for oil, in our territory," Anwar said in a televised press conference in Vladivostok.

"We have never denied the possibility of discussion (with China). But it doesn't mean we have to stop the operation in our area."

Malaysia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday it would investigate the leak of a classified diplomatic note from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

In the note, which was carried by a Philippine news outlet, Beijing asserted that Malaysia's oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea breached its territory.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including parts of the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, complicating energy exploration efforts by several of those countries.

Under international law, an EEZ does not denote sovereignty, but grants a country sovereign rights to extract natural resources from those waters.

Malaysian state energy firm Petronas, or Petroliam Nasional Berhad, operates oil and gas fields in the South China Sea within Malaysia's EEZ and has in recent years had several encounters with Chinese vessels.

Anwar said China has sent "one or two" protest notes to stop Malaysia's oil exploration activities, without specifying details, but stressed that the government would continue to explain to Beijing its position.

"We have said that we will not transgress other people's borders. That is our stringent policy and principles," he said.

"They know our position.... They have claimed that we are infringing on their territory. That is not the case. We say no, it is our territory."

"But if they continue with the dispute, then okay, we will have to listen, and they will have to listen."

An international arbitration tribunal in The Hague in 2016 ruled China's claim to about 90% of the South China Sea, made via a U-shaped "nine-dash line" on its maps, had no basis under international law, a decision Beijing does not recognise.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff and Danial Azhar in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by John Mair, Martin Petty)

Translation

（路透社） - 馬來西亞總理安華週四表示，儘管北京聲稱馬來西亞侵犯了其領土，但該國不會停止在南中國海的石油和天然氣勘探。

安華在俄羅斯進行正式訪問時表示，馬來西亞的勘探活動是在其領土內進行的，無意挑釁或敵視關係友好的中國。

安華在海參崴舉行的電視新聞發布會上表示：“當然，我們必須在我們的水域開展業務並確保經濟優勢，包括在我們的領土上鑽探石油。”

「我們從未否認（與中國）進行討論的可能性。但這並不意味著我們必須停止在我們地區的行動」。

馬來西亞外交部週三表示，將調查一份來自中國外交部機密外交照會被外洩的事件。

在菲律賓一家新聞媒體刊登的這份照會中，北京聲稱馬來西亞在南海的石油和天然氣勘探侵犯了其領土。

中國聲稱對幾乎整個南海擁有主權，其中包括菲律賓、汶萊、馬來西亞、台灣和越南的部分200海裡專屬經濟區（EEZ），這使得其中幾個國家的能源勘探工作變得更加複雜。

根據國際法，專屬經濟區並不代表主權，而是授予一個國家從這些水域開採自然資源的主權權利。

馬來西亞國家能源公司Petronas即馬來西亞國家石油公司（Petroliam Nasional Berhad）在馬來西亞專屬經濟區內的南中國海營運油氣田，近年來與中國船隻發生了數次相遇。

安華表示，中國已發出「一至兩份」抗議照會，要求馬來西亞停止石油勘探活動，但沒有具體說明細節，但強調政府將繼續向北京解釋其立場。

他說「我們說過，我們不會越過別人的邊界。這是我們嚴格的政策和原則」。

“他們知道我們的立場……他們聲稱我們侵犯了他們的領土。事實並非如此。我們說不，這是我們的領土。”

“但如果他們繼續爭論，那麼好吧，我們將需要傾聽，他們也將需要傾聽。”

2016 年，海牙的一個國際仲裁庭裁定，中國透過地圖上 U 形「九段線」提出的對南海約 90% 海域的主權主張沒有國際法依據，但北京並未承認這一仲裁決定。

So, Malaysia says that the country will not stop its oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea despite claims by Beijing that Malaysia is infringing on China’s territory. The crux of the dispute is that an international arbitration tribunal in 2016 has already ruled that China's claim to about 90% of the South China Sea has no legal basis. Beijing does not recognize this tribunal decision.