Within waters Malaysia considers its own, Chinese coast guard vessels and maritime militia boats maintain a near-constant presence. For 10 years, Malaysia has done little to contest them. Malaysia also must venture farther out to sea, raising the likelihood of a direct confrontation with China.
As tensions rise, energy demands are drawing Malaysia deeper into the fray and testing the country’s long-standing reluctance to antagonize China.
Source: https://japan-forward.com
Some of Asia’s biggest oil and gas reserves lie under the seabed of these disputed waters, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Since 2021, Malaysia’s state-owned energy company, Petronas, has awarded several dozen new permits for companies like Shell and TotalEnergies to explore new deposits within Malaysia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Since 2020, China has been harassing Malaysian drilling rigs and survey vessels. For years, Malaysia’s response has been muted — a calculation shaped by reliance on Chinese investment and the relative weakness of the Malaysian military. Unlike the Philippines or Vietnam, Malaysia rarely publicizes Chinese intrusions into its EEZ, which extends 200 nautical miles off the coast.
Despite objections from countries in Southeast Asia, China has laid claim to almost the entire South China Sea, building artificial islands and deploying vessels to enforce what it calls the “10-dash line,” delimiting on maps the boundaries of what China says are its waters, which come within 25 nautical miles of the Malaysian coast.
Malaysia has for decades sought to “decouple” the South China Sea dispute from trade and investment with China. But the country’s need for offshore oil and gas is starting to upset this delicate balancing act. Chinese coast guard vessels have repeatedly disrupted operations at the Kasawari gas field. This contains an estimated 3 trillion cubic feet of gas and where Malaysia has recently built its biggest offshore platform.
Nearly 60 percent of Malaysia’s gas reserves are located off the state of Sarawak. Starting in 2020, Petronas ramped up exploration. Two years later, having reported a string of new discoveries, the company awarded 12 new licensing contracts to energy conglomerates looking to operate in Malaysia, the most since 2009.
In 2018, after harassment by Chinese vessels, Vietnam called off a major oil project midway through construction, leaving the companies involved with an estimated $200 million in losses. That incident was a “shock to the industry” and drove companies to reconsider investments in the South China Sea. Malaysia’s new discoveries are encouraging companies to return. But the risks now are arguably higher than ever.
Chinese officials, however, denied that its planes had ever entered foreign airspace. A Chinese state-run think tank, the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said military aircraft were free to fly over the airspace of the South China Sea since its boundaries were “unclear.”
Since 2021, Malaysia has also been increasing defence spending and strengthening military cooperation with the United States. Malaysia has received drones, communication equipment and surveillance programs, including long-range radar systems, installed on Borneo, to monitor the sovereignty of airspace over the coastlines.
The problem lies in our balancing act – wanting Chinese investments and trade vs. economic rights in the EEZ. Where are those people who raised raced-based issues? If you are so against a retail operator or cannot compromise on Jewish products or influence, surely you must be vocal to mempertahankan kedaulatan Negara?
Reference:
Malaysia’ appetite for oil and gas puts it on collision course with China, Rebecca Tan, https://www.washingtonpost.com, 11 May 2024
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