Malaysia’s Anwar Again Says Oil and Gas Exploration Will Continue – The Diplomat
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has repeated that the state energy firm Petronas will continue to conduct oil and gas exploration activities in Malaysia’s portion of the South China Sea, despite continuing Chinese objections.
In remarks to Parliament on Tuesday, The Star reported, Anwar said that Malaysia “will not back down from its claims. That is why the exploration by Petronas continues, even though objections have been raised by China.” At the same time, Anwar said, “we will not close the door on discussions with any country.”
“Our approach aligns with ASEAN’s principle of centrality, advocating for resolution through discussions and dialogues,” he added.
Malaysia and China have longstanding disputes in the South China Sea, where Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) overlaps with the southern portion of China’s expansive “nine-dash line” maritime claim.
Over the past 18 months, Anwar’s domestic opponents have accused him of failing to stand up to frequent Chinese incursions into its EEZ. According to the U.S.-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), the China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels have made frequent visits to Luconia Shoals this year. An expansive series of reefs around 80 nautical miles off the coast of Sarawak, the shoals are close to a number of major Malaysian oil and gas projects, including, the recently completed Kasawari offshore gas platform, the country’s largest.
According to AMTI, CCG vessels made visits to both new exploratory wells as well as “passing as close as 1,000 meters from gas production platforms at Timi, Kasawari, and Jerun.”
Unlike the Philippines, which has adopted an “assertive transparency campaign” aimed at publicizing Chinese incursions into its own EEZ in the Spratly Islands, Anwar’s government has remained publicly silent about the CCG’s patrols – a silence that has prompted criticism from his political rivals.
In April of last year, shortly after a state visit to China, Anwar told lawmakers that he was “ready to negotiate” with Beijing over disputed areas, a claim that, some argued, bestowed legitimacy on China’s claims. In March of this year, during a speech in Melbourne, Anwar implied that the disputes had been inflamed by U.S. pressure for Southeast Asian nations to take sides in its geopolitical competition with China. “If they have problems with China,” he said, “they should not impose them upon us. We do not have a problem with China.”
However, the Luconia Shoals issue became unavoidable following the publication in late August of a leaked diplomatic note that China had sent to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing on February 18. This demanded that Malaysia immediately halt all oil and gas exploration and production activities off the coast of Sarawak State, including at the Kasawari gas field.
The publication of the diplomatic note forced Anwar to clarify his government’s position on the South China Sea. Speaking to reporters last month in Vladivostok, he described China as a “great friend” but asserted that Malaysia had a sovereign right “to operate in our waters and secure economic advantage, including drilling for oil in our territory.”
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, Anwar questioned why so much focus was being placed on Malaysia’s differences with China, when it also had unresolved maritime and territorial disputes with neighbors including Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
“We have issues but these issues do not affect diplomatic relations,” he said. “These issues do not affect trade relations and close friendships with our neighbors.”
The reiteration of that policy is a sign that Anwar isn’t about to acquiesce to Chinese demands, though he is clearly inclined to downplay the CCG patrols in favor of good relations with China. In light of the near-constant Chinese incursions into Malaysia’s EEZ, the question is how long the country can manage to achieve “Goldilocks” solution in which Malaysia continues to explore and exploit offshore oil and gas deposits, while avoiding friction with China.
At some point, one presumes Malaysia will be forced to address this contradiction. With the oil and gas deposits closer to Malaysia’s shore now approaching the point of exhaustion, forcing Petronas to venture into outlying areas of its EEZ, this point could come sooner rather than later.