Keep China in focus, analysts warn, as Malaysia and Philippines butt heads over sea claims

Southeast Asian claimants to the South China Sea should retrain their focus on forging a common stance on rival ambitions by China, experts say, after Malaysia vowed to protest Philippine laws which it says overlap on maritime claims held by Sabah State.

Malaysia on Thursday said it will issue a formal protest to the Philippines, in response to two new laws signed by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jnr on November 8, which it believes violate Sabah’s maritime boundaries near Malaysian Borneo.

The complaint was to “demonstrate our commitment to defending Sabah’s sovereign rights and the sovereignty of our country”, Malaysia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mohamad Alamin told parliament.

Malaysia did the “correct thing” by sending a protest note, but it should not let this dispute obstruct progress in South China Sea talks with Beijing and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), geostrategic analyst Azmi Hassan with the National Council of Professors said.

The pressure is already on Malaysia after committing to finalise Asean-China negotiations on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea, when it assumes Asean’s chairmanship next year, he added.

“This Code of Conduct will be the basis to resolve everything, and not by China putting up their own law,” Azmi told This Week in Asia.