1. Thread: The government must take a stand on the Chinese provocation in Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea @ismailsabri60 @HishammuddinH2O

This has been widely reported by international and local media, without any official statements from government

2. Admiral (M) Dato' Mohd Zubil bin Mat Som, DG of MMEA confirmed on 16 April that Chinese research / survey vessel Haiyang Dizhi 8 had entered Malaysia’s EEZ legally, according to @hmetromy

3. The next day, Haiyang Dizhi 8 was tracked tagging @Petronas -operated exploration vessel West Capella, within Malaysia's EEZ.

At one point, it was flanked by more than 10 Chinese vessels, including those belonging to maritime militia & Chinese Coast Guards

4. China seems to be using the distraction of Covid-19 as an opportunity to advance their claims in South China Sea. The Royal Malaysian Navy is also busy dealing with the Rohingya boats in the Straits of Melaka

5. This is not the 1st time we have had a confrontation with the Chinese in the South China Sea. In January, Malaysia was stuck in a confrontation with Chinese military vessels near 2 offshore blocks where Petronas is drilling for oil & gas

6. China is determined to assert militarily on any country that attempts to develop new energy sources in the area.

Last month, the Chinese navy carried out combat drills with a fleet of submarines, fighter jets & fast-moving missile boats in the South China Sea

7. Early April, tensions escalated after a Chinese military vessel rammed & sank a Vietnamese fishing boat off Paracel Islands, the 2nd such incident in less than a year.

Vietnam lodged an official protest with the Chinese govt after the fishing boat was sunk

8. In 2019, a China Coast Guard vessel spent weeks in waters close to an oil rig in a Vietnamese oil block, while the same ship tagging the Petronas vessel, Haiyang Dizhi 8 conducted suspected oil exploration surveys in Vietnam’s EEZ

9. Early in February 2020, China again sent fishing ships to the Indonesian Natuna Islands.

The fishing ships, backed by coast guard vessels, have been invading Indonesian waters, trawling the fishing waters around the Natuna Islands with industrial boats on several occasions

10. Against our non-response, China could keep its survey fleet in disputed waters and hinder the energy drilling efforts within our own waters for the long term.

11. While there are some disputes within Asean countries regarding the South China Sea, the bigger dispute is with China as it claims the Sea based on the nine-dash line. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague dismissed the nine-dash line as legally baseless

12. I hope that the Malaysian Government can take an official stand against this provocation by China to protect our territory. We must also urgently work with ASEAN to come to a common position against the encroachments by China in the South China Sea