KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called for aggressive diplomatic engagement to resolve the tensions in territorial waters between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.
He said Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has been engaging with him regarding the skirmishes, noting that Malaysia will continue its active engagement within the Asean framework.
"At this stage, I will say that I understand the concern Bongbong Marcos expressed in many of my exchanges with him. When he asked for my opinion, I said my personal view is that we (Malaysia) take a more aggressive way of diplomatic engagement, and we have been rather successful in that regard.
"Because there have been some very serious issues too, with Malaysia, but we have been relatively more successful in that regard because we are deemed and seemed to be really neutral in the engagement,” he said at the 37th Asia-Pacific Roundtable (APR) here on Thursday (June 6).
Anwar was responding to a question from a Philippine delegate regarding Malaysia's approach as the ASEAN Chair in 2025 to address the Philippines' concerns in the South China Sea.
The Prime Minister reiterated his position that the issue must be resolved among Asean member countries and China, without the interference of external parties.
"There should not be involvement with other parties because it will be deemed to be more complex and will complicate the matter,” he said.
According to media reports, the Philippine President recently warned China not to cross a red line in the South China Sea, where a standoff between the countries continues to escalate.
In recent months, the longstanding dispute between China and the Philippines over territory in the South China Sea has escalated into aggressive clashes. – Bernama
