Malaysia calls Beijing's claims in South China Sea 'baseless under international law'

The Malaysian government, on Sunday, rejected the maritime claim of Beijing in the South China Sea, a region where the Chinese claims have aggravated tension. 

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Hishammuddin Hussein, the foreign minister of Malaysia, said in the parliament that ''Kuala Lumpur opposes the Chinese claims of having historic rights over those waters."

"The Malaysian government considers the claims of China as baseless under international law," added Hussein while answering questions from the members of the parliament on the status of the dragon country's claims in the region. 

A recent report by the Malaysian government suggests that the Chinese time and again have tried to enter the exclusive economic zone between 2016 and 2019. 

"In the month of April, ships from the dragon country had barged into the territorial waters of Malaysia for over 100 days," further added the report. 

The Haiyang Dizhi 8, a Chinese survey vehicle, accompanied by a Chinese Coast Guard(CCG) vessel, had entered the Exclusive Economic Zone(EEZ) of Malaysia and began surveying near to a drillship which was under the contract to Petronas, a Malaysian state oiled vehicle. 

Malaysia and Brunei are just two of the nations which have time and again, opposed the expansive claims of China in the region, through which a shipment worth USD 3.4 billion passes each year. However, the countries are the only ones in the region who have made their statements public on the issue.

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Earlier, on December 12, 2019, the Malaysian government had filed a submission with the United Nations, seeking to establish the limits of the continental shelf-life of the country in the Northern part of the already disputed region. 

To the same, China responded by saying that the submission of Malaysia had "infringed seriously over the sovereignty, sovereign rights and the jurisdiction in the South China Sea."

In response to Beijing, the Malaysian government had issued a verbal note to the United Nations on July 29 saying that "it rejected the claims by China of any historical rights, or any other sovereign rights or jurisdiction while respecting the maritime areas of the South China Sea, that was encompassed by the relevant part of nine-dash-line.''

The note issued by Malaysia said that the Chinese claims over the region had no relevance under international laws

The United States and its allies have also challenged any kind of claims by the Chinese in the territory. 

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