‘If the Malaysian navy cannot even react when the Chinese naval ships
are 80km from Sarawak’s coastline, it will be too late if a serious
incursion were to take place’
KOTA KINABALU: The federal government must show its commitment to
protect the territorial waters of Sabah and Sarawak and provide the
security that were promised to the Borneo States during the formation of
Malaysia in 1963, said Bingkor assemblyman Jeffrey Kitingan.
“The promises of the then Malayan leaders to provide security for the
Borneo States was one of the fundamental basis to persuade and induce
Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia in 1963,” he said
.
He stressed this while commenting on the recent incident where three
Chinese navy ships had allegedly encroached into James Shoal, which is
80km from Sarawak shores.
He said the least the Malaysian government and the navy could have
done was to position its French-built submarines near James Shoal as a
show of its naval power.
“Its failure will show that Malaysian naval capabilities are weak. It
will also reinforce the perception that the submarines were defective,
could not dive or purchased as a museum piece to line the pockets of
cronies with ill-gotten gains amounting to hundreds of millions,” he
said.
He warned that if the Malaysian navy cannot even react when the
Chinese naval ships are 80km away from Sarawak’s coastline, it will be
too late if a serious incursion were to take place.
“Like in Pearl Harbour in World War II, foreign ships could have
entered the shores of Sarawak, done damage and landed at beaches in
Sarawak.
“Will the federal government need another Kampung Tanduo intrusion to
happen in Sarawak before it takes the necessary action to safeguard the
security and sovereignty of Sarawak?” he asked.
Jeffrey who is also chairman of Sabah Star also dismissed the denial
by the Royal Malaysian Navy chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar who had denied
reports that three Chinese navy ships had encroached into James Shoal.
Aziz, in comments published by local media on Wednesday, said the
Chinese exercise, involving its newly commissioned aircraft carrier and a
submarine, took place 1,000 nautical miles away from Malaysia’s 200
nautical mile economic exclusion zone.
He said Malaysia and the United States had been informed of the exercises beforehand.
“There has been no act of provocation on the part of the Chinese or
threat to our sovereignty as they are conducting their exercise in
international waters,” he was quoted as saying.
Where is the security for Sarawak?
Jeffrey described Aziz’s statement as a feeble attempt to deflect
criticism from the public over Malaysian navy’s failure to safeguard the
sovereignty of the country.
“Acting feebly and saying that the Chinese naval exercise took place
1,000 nautical miles away and that no such incursion took place when it
was widely reported internationally is to deflect criticism.
“It will not portray the Najib administration as being capable of defending Malaysia from external threats,” he contended.
He stressed that the alleged China naval incursion and potential
claim over the James Shoal and the Spratly Islands might have dire
consequences for Malaysia and Sarawak.
He warned that if any foreign power is allowed to claim ownership of
James Shoal, Sarawak’s territorial boundary may be reduced to its
shorelines and coastal waters, and it will probably lose all its
existing oil-wells and oil-rigs and its oil and gas resources.
“At stake is also Sarawak’s security and sovereignty as well as the
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and exclusive rights that goes along with
it, fishing and tapping of marine resources, seabed mineral exploration
including oil and gas exploration and other economic exploitation.
“It also has to be remembered that the boundaries of Sabah and
Sarawak as declared by the Queen in Council in 1954 extends to the
continental shelf which is in most parts beyond the EEZ,” he added.
Jeffrey said if the Malaysian government could not protect Sarawak
and provide the necessary security, there was no reason for Sarawak to
continue to be in Malaysia, as the basis for the 1963 agreement to form
Malaysia would have failed.
“The federal government need to face the truth and explain the James
Shoal incursion and show its commitment that it is able to defend Sabah
and Sarawak’s security and sovereignty. If it does not, there will be
another failure in the basis of the formation of Malaysia,” he said.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2014/02/03/malaysian-navy-caught-napping/
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