Sawt Falasteen - Malaysia's Anwar says don't single out China in sea tensions

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Anwar said that Malaysia had border issues with Singapore and its other neighbours in Southeast Asia but they still managed to cultivate good relations.

While Malaysia also has maritime issues with China, it will push ahead with improving ties because it is an important country, he said.

"We have excellent relationship with Singapore. We still have border issues with them," Anwar said.

"I treat the Thais as my family members, the leaders, but still we have some border issues with them. So it is with Indonesia, with the Philippines.

"(But) we don't go to war, we don't threaten. We do discuss. We get a bit... angry, but we do focus on the economic fundamentals and move on," he added.

"Why is it that we must then single out China as an issue?" Anwar asked.

"That's my only contention. Do I have an issue about it? Yes, but do I have a problem? No. Do we have any undesired tensions? No," he said.

He said that while Malaysia has strong ties with the United States, China is an important neighbour that it must also engage with.

"Of course, people highlight the issue of the South China Sea... But may I remind you that Malaysia is a maritime country," he said.

China has been "very reasonable" in dealing with Malaysia, Anwar added.

"They take us seriously, more seriously than many of the countries of our old allies and friends," he said, without mentioning any country.

China has ruffled diplomatic feathers in Southeast Asia because of its assertion that it owns most of the strategic waterway despite an international ruling that the claim has no legal basis.

This has pitted it against Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, which have partial claims to the sea.

In recent years, China and the Philippines have seen an escalation of confrontations, including boat-ramming incidents and Chinese ships firing water cannons on Filipino vessels.

The clashes have sparked concern they could draw the United States, Manila's long-time security ally, into armed conflict with China.

N.Shalabi--SF-PST