ABSTRACT
Malaysia’s policy in the South China Sea is based on history, international law, economy, and strategic calculations. Contrary to some observations, Malaysia maintains an active, cooperative engagement and friendly policy in its waters. In regard to Malaysia-China relations, though Malaysia has been critical of China’s military and fishery policies in the South China Sea, their economic and diplomatic ties remain strong. Malaysia’s approach to overlapping claims with the neighbours in the South China Sea has always been to emphasise cooperation over conflict. Putrajaya has relied on international law to resolve two boundary disputes with Indonesia and Singapore when all the three separate parties consented to seek the services of the International Court of Justice to settle their bilateral disputes. However, attempts by stakeholders to introduce mitigating measures to defuse tensions like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ proposed code of conduct have not been successful. The need for some mitigating measures to minimise tensions in the South China Sea is now more compelling than ever to prevent low-level tensions from escalating into military conflicts.
