Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia is prepared to negotiate with China over the South China Sea dispute, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said the issue was raised at the four-eyed meeting he had with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his official visit to China being that the national oil and gas company, Petronas, has the largest platform for oil exploration operating in the area
“China is also staking claim over the area. I said as a small country that needs oil and gas resources, we have to continue, but if the condition is that there must be negotiations, then we are ready to negotiate,” he said when speaking at the Prime Minister’s Monthly Assembly with Staff of the Prime Minister’s Department (JPM), here, Monday.
Anwar said he also touched on the issue of Myanmar and the Rohingya refugees, despite knowing that China practises a policy of non-interference.
“China is close to Myanmar, but its policy is not to interfere. I said we do not intend to interfere in their affairs, but there are almost 200,000 Rohingya refugees here. So, whether we like it or not, what is happening in Myanmar in denying the rights of Myanmar’s own people, including the Rohingya, affects us,” he said.
On his China visit, Anwar described it as an extraordinary success and attributed it to cross-ministerial cooperation and team spirit among civil servants. He said the efforts put in by civil servants in preparing the event, enabled about 50 giant Chinese companies, worth tens of billions of dollars, to gather in conjunction with the visit.
“This is because of efforts made not only by the Foreign Ministry, but also all relevant ministries,” he said. In conjunction with Anwar’s official visit to China, Malaysia received the highest investment commitment in history, amounting to RM170 billion from Chinese investors, following the signing of 19 memoranda of understanding (MoU) between Malaysian and Chinese companies.
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