KL steadfast in opposing South China Sea island militarisation

SINGAPORE: Malaysia is maintaining its stand on opposing any militarisation of islands in the South China Sea, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

“We oppose the militarisation of the artificial island. The Chinese had told us the island will not be militarised,” Hishammuddin said on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue here yesterday.

He was asked to comment on United States Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, who earlier told the security forum that Washington would not accept Beijing’s militarisation of islands in the South China Sea.

“That has always been Malaysia’s position. No difference,” Hishammuddin said.

He said he was looking forward to meeting Mattis today.

Asked on the outlook of the situation in the South China Sea, he said he considered it as “manageable”.

He said Malaysia’s major concern was that the “unintended and accidental incidents at sea or in the air” would spiral out of control.

“We have a direct relationship with China and the US. If there are things they do that we are not happy with... we can engage them rather than going to war about it.”

Earlier, in his speech on “New Challenges for Crisis Management in the Asia Pacific”, he said proliferation of the Islamic State’s Asia-Pacific ambitions and the group’s global expansion were the challenges that stood out most this year.

He said from 2013 to last year, Malaysia had arrested 250 individuals suspected of militant activity.

“It also pains me to say that Malaysians were also involved in the Marawi attacks. Many were from seemingly good, even prosperous, backgrounds or professions.” Bernama