China and Malaysia said they would seek to peacefully resolve disputes in the South China Sea and pledged support for the United Nations in a joint statement issued on Thursday at the end of a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
There have been several encounters with Chinese vessels at Malaysian state energy firm Petronas’ oil and gas projects in recent years. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said Petronas will continue its exploration activities in Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone, despite objections from China.
Xi departed Kuala Lumpur for Cambodia on Thursday, the final stop of a three-nation tour of Southeast Asia that saw him visit Vietnam earlier this week.
In the joint statement, the countries said they looked forward to concluding negotiations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on a code of conduct for the South China Sea next year.
ASEAN and China pledged in 2002 to create a code of conduct, but it took 15 years to start discussions, and progress has been slow.
The South China Sea has been a source of tension between China and its Southeast Asian neighbours, disrupting fishing and energy exploration in the region.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including parts of the exclusive economic zones of Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Vietnam. In 2016, an international arbitral tribunal ruled that China’s claims have no basis under international law. China does not recognise the ruling.
Throughout Xi’s trip this week there has been strong support for multilateralism and trade, in contrast to a confrontational U.S. approach on tariffs, and the joint statement reiterated that with a call to enhance cooperation under the United Nations, WTO, WHO, and the BRICS grouping of countries.
“Both sides will jointly promote universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation, advance trade and investment facilitation, and reject the unilateral trade restrictive measures including arbitrary tariffs hikes that are inconsistent with the WTO rules,” the statement said.
The countries also said that Gaza is an inalienable part of the territory of Palestine, and urged a full and effective implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
($1 = 4.4100 ringgit)
(Reporting by Ashley Tang)
