Malaysia to continue South China Sea oil exploration despite Beijing’s infringement claims

Malaysia will continue its oil exploration in the South China Sea, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said, as his government launches a probe into the source of a leaked protest note sent to the country’s embassy in Beijing by China’s foreign ministry.

Last week, Philippine news outlet The Inquirer published pictures of a two-page note, as part of a story on Beijing’s assertion that Malaysia’s oil and gas exploration activities in the contested waters had infringed on China’s territory.

Anwar said on Thursday Malaysia had no intention of being “provocative (or) unnecessarily hostile” to China, but maintained that it had operated well within its territory.

“We never dismissed the possibility for discussions, but it does not mean we have to stop activities in our territory,” he told a press conference with Malaysian journalists during a visit to Russia.

Anwar was on his maiden trip to Russia to get Moscow’s support for Malaysia’s membership application to Brics, a grouping of developing nations.