South China Sea Dispute: Malaysia Pushes Back With Rejection Of Chinese Maritime Claims

Malaysia has rejected China's maritime claims that overlap its own in the South China Sea and rebuked Beijing for saying Kuala Lumpur had no right to seek the establishment of its continental shelf in the northern waters.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported Malaysia sent a "note verbale" (an unsigned diplomatic note that is more formal than an aide-mémoire and less formal than a note) to the United Nations on July 29 in which Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government also said that Malaysia was fully within its rights under the U.N. Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to reject "in its entirety the contents" of an earlier note from Beijing.

Beijing's note came last December in response to an earlier Malaysian submission to the U.N. over areas of potential overlapping claims. Malaysia said it was trying to determine the limits of its territory. China said the Malaysian submission "seriously infringed China’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the South China Sea" at the time.

China's expansive claims fall within the Nine-Dash Line, a massive, tongue-shaped curve of dashes covering most of the South China Sea. The line begins in the Gulf of Tonkin, runs south along the coast of Vietnam with the tip of the tongue running east toward the coast of Malaysia. It then turns north and runs along the Malaysian coast, past the Philippines and terminates near Taiwan.

China has rejected the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruling but a total of six countries, including Malaysia, challenge claims under the Nine-Dash line. Taiwan also has a claim that resembles the Nine-Dash Line, but conflicts with the mainland’s claim.

Recently the U.S. rejected China's claims as illegal, calling them "completely unlawful" in a statement by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The SCMP referred to Robert Beckman, the head of the Ocean Law and Policy program at the Centre for International Law in Singapore. He wrote, "They [ASEAN members] further state that China has asserted rights and jurisdiction in the South China Sea that are not consistent with UNCLOS."

"The exchanges of notes verbale are a clear signal that the dispute over the legality under international law of China’s claims in the South China Sea is not going to go away any time soon, notwithstanding the ongoing negotiations between ASEAN and China to agree on a code of conduct for the South China Sea."