THE recent port of call by two naval ships from China at Penang did not violate any of the country’s regulations and went through proper diplomatic procedures, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
The Foreign Minister said the port of call was to mark the 50 years of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China, and received approval from the Defence Ministry.
“The Chinese Embassy had indeed gone through diplomatic avenues to apply for the visit.
“On our part, Wisma Putra was involved with providing diplomatic approvals for the ships to sail into our waters and dock at the port,” he said when responding to a supplementary question raised by Datuk Mumtaz Md Nawi (PN-Tumpat).
Mumtaz had questioned the government’s stance and actions following the arrival of the ships in Penang, which she described as sending the wrong message to the public.
Mohamad, or Tok Mat as he is known, said details of the visit were managed by the Penang state government.
“So far, there has not been any violations of regulations. But if any issues arise, they will be investigated,” he added.
Last Saturday, the Penang government announced the arrival of 1,000 Chinese naval trainees to the country aboard two ships, namely the Qi Jiguang Training Ship and the JinggangShan Ship from Zhanjiang for a friendly visit.
The 83rd task force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and the trainees were brought over to visit several places of interest in Penang and to interact with local residents during the tour.
The naval trainees’ presence was heavily questioned after their visit to Chung Ling Private High School went viral on several social media platforms.
On a separate matter, Mohamad said investigations were still ongoing pertaining to a recent report containing classified information involving diplomatic notes between Malaysia and China.
Listen here: Mohamad speaking in Parliament. — Bernama
He said Wisma Putra’s internal probed focused on the origin of the alleged document.
“Usually, our documents have a watermark but what was issued did not. So, we cannot say for sure where it came from.
“Our investigation will look at whether the document had come from somewhere else other than Wisma Putra,” he said.
Mohamad was referring to a breach of classified information following the publication of an article by a Filipino news portal on Aug 29 pertaining to diplomatic notes between Malaysia and China addressed to the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing on Feb 18.
A police report was lodged over the article as it contained details of classified information.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Beijing had demanded Putrajaya to immediately stop all activities where Malaysia is exploring oil and gas reserves in areas it considered within its exclusive economic zone.
Beijing pointed out that Putrajaya’s actions “infringe” on China’s sovereignty in areas covered by its illegal nine, now 10-dash line.
On the issue of the South China Sea, Mohamad said Malaysia would continue to use diplomatic channels, including platforms such as Asean, to discuss the matter.
He said Malaysia and China are the co-chairs for a three-year period of the Asean and China meetings concerning the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).This, he added, includes negotiations to finalise the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).
