Malaysia views ‘new islands’ in South China Sea as provocation, says Armed Forces chief

Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters of the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. - Reuters

BEIJING: China's construction work on islands in the disputed South China Sea is "unwarranted provocation", Malaysian Armed Forces chief said on Sunday in a rare public comment about the spat from a country which has its own claims in the seas.

China's relations with several South-east Asian countries, especially the Philippines and Vietnam who have competing claims in the South China Sea, have been strained by Beijing's increasingly assertive tone in an area through which US$5 trillion (RM20.9 trillion) in ship-borne trade passes annually.