| Welcome to Flipzi's. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you have a limited access. You can read the 'Announcements' and 'Society' sections but you need to register in order to view the rest. This is for security reasons. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free anyway. Register now instead. Thank you. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Malaysia Watch; news and updates | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:55 pm (347 Views) | |
| Flipzi | Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:55 pm Post #1 |
|
R.A.T.S.
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
China and Malaysia To Hold Maritime Exercises: What Gives? China and Malaysia will conduct their first military exercises next year. By Ankit Panda November 15, 2013 In a somewhat novel maritime development in the South China Sea, China and Malaysia have agreed to hold joint military exercises next year, following up on a Memorandum of Understanding the two signed in 2005. The exercises were confirmed by Malaysian defense minister Hishammuddin Hussein towards the end of October. The two states formally held their first defense and security consultation in Kuala Lumpur in late 2012. Despite the vagueness of the statement, Hishammuddin confirmed that the exercises would contain a strong maritime element. Beyond the fact that the drills are planned for next year, there are no details about their scope, location, or which military branches will participate. According to Defense News, Hishamuddin invited his Chinese counterpart, General Chang Wanquan, "to visit the Malaysian naval base of Mawilla 2 in the South China Sea on the island of Borneo.” The announcement came just two weeks after reports that Malaysia would establish a marine corps and a naval base close to the James Shoal, which in waters in the South China Sea (SCS) claimed by both China and Malaysia. According to IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly, the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) is expected to set up a base at Bintulu in the South China Sea "to protect the surrounding area and oil reserves.” The James Shoal – 60 nautical miles from this location – was the site of a PLAN exercise in March 2013. Janes cites that exercise as an example of "China asserting its claims to most of the SCS.” It continues that the marine corps announcement "follows a number of unpublicised incursions by Chinese naval and maritime surveillance forces into Malaysian waters off East Malaysia and the Malaysian portion of the Spratly Islands.” In a piece written in March 2013, appearing in the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s blog The Strategist, Shahriman Lockman underscored the muted Malaysia reaction to China’s exercise at the James Shoal. Lockman said, "the exercise was also notable for the distinct lack of a visible public reaction from Malaysia. Neither the Malaysian Prime Minister nor the Foreign Ministry has made even the most perfunctory statement on the matter. Never mind that a Malaysian naval offshore patrol vessel, the KD Perak, monitored the exercise and issued orders for the PLA Navy to leave the area. And never mind that a standard protest may have been quietly expressed through diplomatic channels.” In Lockman’s analysis, Malaysia is somewhat of an exceptional case in ASEAN vis-à-vis China on security matters owing to its historical significance, among other factors. On defense issues, the two have pledged to establish high-level cooperation since 2000, when they signed a long-term cooperative framework agreement. Southeast Asia expert and fellow Flashpoints columnist, Carl Thayer writes that the agreement "included a defense clause calling for an exchange program of high-level visits, study tours, seminars, ship visits, and cooperation in training, research and development, and intelligence sharing. In addition, the agreement also called for cooperation between national defense industries to include reciprocal visits, exhibitions, seminars and workshops to explore the possibility of joint or co-production projects.” Thayer notes that China and Malaysia conduct bilateral relations on the level of “strategic partners." Xi Jinping has also talked of establishing a “maritime silk road” with ASEAN states – a proposal that was met with considerable skepticism across Southeast Asia given the scope of territorial disputes with China in the SCS. Xi’s proposal is expected to direct Chinese attention and investment towards establishing "a web of trade links and better connectivity between ports and maritime co-operation.” The move to conduct maritime exercises with Malaysia may be an attempt to foment the latter – Xi and Li, during their recent visits to Southeast Asia, did emphasize the concept quite a bit. The decision to conduct these exercises also flies in the face of ASEAN’s strategy against China. The ten-member body has been trying to present a united front against China, which is perceived as a regional “bully” by some. The Diplomat was unable to determine if the decision to follow-up on the 2005 MOU on Defense Cooperation was initiated by the Chinese side or the Malaysia side. The reaction from other ASEAN states to the decision is sure to be negative, especially considering the very recent flare-ups of maritime disputes between China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. At this point, it's anyone's guess if Malaysia and China are maritime partners or competitors in the South China Sea. (Ankit Panda) http://thediplomat.com/2013/11/china-and-malaysia-to-hold-maritime-exercises-what-gives/ |
|
Alfred Alexander L. Marasigan Manila, Philippines getflipzi@yahoo.com http://z6.invisionfree.com/flipzi " Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them!" " People don't care what we know until they know we care." | |
![]() |
|
| Flipzi | Wed Feb 12, 2014 8:13 pm Post #2 |
|
R.A.T.S.
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Malaysian sources deny report of PLAN drill at James Shoal Dzirhan Mahadzir, Kuala Lumpur - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly Key Points >Malaysia has denied Chinese reports that PLAN vessels conducted operations around James Shoal in the South China Sea on 26 January The submerged shoal is the southernmost feature claimed by China in the South China Sea >Malaysian military sources have denied Chinese media claims that a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) task group patrolled around the James Shoal region of Malaysia's exclusive economic zone on 26 January. The sources told IHS Jane's that Malaysian ships and aircraft operating in the area, which lies 50 n miles from the East Malaysian town of Bintulu, reported no sightings or electronic surveillance returns of the three ships cited in Chinese media reports: the Type 071 dock landing ship (LSD) Changbaishan (989); Luyang I-class (Type 052B) destroyer Wuhan (169); and Luyang II-class (Type 052C) destroyer Haikou (171). Xinhua news agency reported that the PLAN task group patrolled Zengmu Reef, the Chinese name for James Shoal, and held a ceremony in which sailors and officers swore to safeguard China's sovereignty. The Malaysian sources said Malaysian oil platforms in the region also reported no visual or radar sightings of the Chinese ships during that period, adding that it was physically impossible for the PLAN ships, which had been in the Paracel Islands carrying out military exercises, to have sailed to James Shoal that quickly and undetected. A PLAN exercise around the shoal in March 2013 was monitored by the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) Kedah-class patrol vessel KD Perak , which subsequently asked the PLAN ships to leave the area. The Malaysian Ministry of Defence and the RMN have declined to comment or issue a statement on the reports. The sources said the Malaysian government and armed forces are confident the news is false but want to avoid a war of words, particularly as the account came from Chinese media rather than the Chinese military, with which Malaysia has a working relationship. Malaysia's Minister of Defence Hishammuddin Tun Hussein and Chief of Defence Force General Zulkifeli Mohamed Zin paid official visits to China in 2013. Malaysia is also scheduled to hold a humanitarian assistance and disaster response command post exercise with China in April. ANALYSIS China's repeated claims that James Shoal is its southernmost land feature must be understood in the context of one important fact: the shoal is 22 m below sea level and so under international law cannot be claimed. BBC correspondent Bill Hayton, who is writing a book on the history of the South China Sea, has previously written that the claim is based on a translation error made by the Republic of China - then the government of mainland China - in the 1930s. Instead of completing its own survey of the South China Sea, Hayton writes that they "simply copied the existing British charts and changed the names of the islands to make them sound Chinese. We know they did this because the committee's map included about 20 mistakes that appeared on the British map - features that in later, better surveys were found not to actually exist." James Shoal, or Zengmu Reef, falls into this category although the People's Republic of China continues to reinforce the claim by regular visits to the area, during which - in Hayton's words - it customarily deposits large pieces of "engraved stone over the side of the ship". There is a more serious side to the shoal, not least that it completes China's 'nine-dashed line claim' to nearly all of the South China Sea and so brings Chinese warships into waters where they are not welcome. Given Malaysia's desire to avoid a confrontation, the risk of it initiating an incident is low, although it is unclear whether the PLAN would adopt the same restraint if it came across an RMN vessel. |
|
Alfred Alexander L. Marasigan Manila, Philippines getflipzi@yahoo.com http://z6.invisionfree.com/flipzi " Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them!" " People don't care what we know until they know we care." | |
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Issues · Next Topic » |





![]](http://z5.ifrm.com/static/1/pip_r.png)



8:30 AM Jul 11