YOURSAY | ‘A formula to share the resources may be the only solution.’

Report: China harasses Malaysian oil and gas vessels on daily basis

OCT: I don't think Malaysia can do much about Chinese vessels’ harassment of civilian vessels in Malaysian oil and gas fields near Beting Patinggi Ali (Luconia Shoals), some 200km off the coast of Bintulu, Sarawak, except to call in the Chinese ambassador for an explanation.

In terms of military assets, Malaysia is nowhere near China’s. Our naval and air assets are considered obsolete. China naval assets and/or air assets can finish us off in no time if Malaysia does anything rash. It's all about big boys bullying small boys.

Even Uncle Sam will think twice about starting a war with China. So, when Uncle Sam, the world's No 1 superpower, has second thoughts in starting a war with China, it will be disastrous for Malaysia to play hardball with China.

As can be seen, this is not the first time China has intruded in our airspace and waters and it won't be the last time either. Former foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein will not antagonise China as China today is very powerful in terms of military assets and economy.

Milshah: So, does Hishammuddin still want to seek China’s view on the trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (Aukus)?

When China bullies, you keep quiet, when US wants to form Aukus to counter China, you protest. So how will you handle these Chinese incursions? Will you seek China’s view as well because it is your big brother?

By the way, China did not even respond to Malaysia’s recent protest against the incursion of Sarawak. It shows how they view you as insignificant and unworthy of any response.

KitP: Yes, Malaysia made a huge, loud objection to Australia's plan to acquire conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines to the extent of going to Beijing to "receive instructions", while keeping quiet as a mouse on intimidation by China warships close to Sarawak shores.

This is how a country loses its sovereignty and independence.

Ringgit: Well, Malaysia should resolve these "abang-adik" problems at the regional level in the Asean way, and can still foster and maintain good trade and security relationships.

We do have similar problems with neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand as well. At one time, Singapore had chased out our patrol boats and Indonesia was about to start a war with us. Not to forget, some militants in the Philippines want to claim Sabah too.

GreenBear3468: @Ringgit, other Asian countries like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines have also complained about China's aggression.

At this point, any tension with China is only China's fault. No one wants to argue with their biggest trading partners, but China is not making maintaining good trading relationships with them easy.

And for your information, the conflict Malaysia had with Indonesia or the invasion of Sabah was not a minor issue as you implied. People died in those conflicts.

So, Malaysians are not wrong for being critical of such harassment by foreign forces.

Guglu: The fact is that the Chinese won’t dare to touch the Malaysian ships. They are just monkeying around and not even a square inch of Malaysian soil is taken away by them.

They just want to show their strength to a small nation with a population smaller than their city of Wuhan.

We are not like the Philippines or Vietnam. We are a cool country. But we all know that if ever they touch us, Aukus will come over and give them a bloody nose.

Enlightened Globalist: Some of the commentators are supporting China in its blatant disregard of international law in claiming huge swathes of our seas which are rich in oil and gas.

There might be trillions of oil and gas reserves in these seas and China wants to steal them. Yet these people support China's claims.

You might be anti-government or anti-Umno, etc. But for heaven’s sake, being a Malaysian citizen has some basic responsibility.

First, be loyal to your own country instead of China. Don't be a traitor.

Just A Malaysian: Indeed. Malaysians of all races must unite behind our flag and stand up against the bullying of China. Our sovereignty and territories must be defended at all costs.

But I also understand many Chinese Malaysians, long being bullied as second- or third-class citizens, are beginning to feel disillusioned.

They seek an alternative identity as a way to vent their frustrations. They see the country being bullied by the "old motherland" as revenge for their pain.

Undecided: Only China can solve this impasse in the South China Sea together with all other claimants and it should take the lead to solve the problem. For China, it is its own security that is the main concern.

Now with Aukus, it does make this problem harder to resolve as this development is seen to be interference from the US which has multiple bases in the region.

For the other countries, it is more of the economic benefits of the resources in the sea and the fishing rights. A formula to share the resources may be the only solution. In order to do that, China has to be gracious/generous as it is the second biggest economy in the world.

GrayParrot2734: Many have commented regarding Aukus but don't really understand the situation here. The formation of Aukus is between the US, the UK and Australia, it has nothing to do with Asean countries.

There is a mutual understanding between nuclear-armed countries not to export or sell nuclear weapons to non-nuclear armed countries. By selling nuclear submarines to Australia, US has opened a Pandora box. Now many non-nuclear armed countries will start looking to buy nuclear weapons from Russia, China, France, etc.

Rather than helping Asean, the US is messing up the situation. I still think that discussion and dialogue is a better option to solve the problems.

Cogito Ergo Sum: We have sold our soul (oil, mineral rights, gas, etc) to the devil. It’s a necessity to make up for the billions lost through fraud and kleptocracy of a few elites in the country.

If you don’t pay the devil his dues, he will take it by force and then add interest to the amount. How did we wade into such turbulent waters? Who was steering this sinking ship? And who were the crew aiding and abetting this captain?

We all know the answers to that.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.