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Malaysia has affirmed to the United Nations its formal rejection of the Philippines’ longstanding claim over Sabah, a move that will further increase tensions between the two neighbors.
In a verbal note sent by its permanent mission to the New York-based world body that was presented to the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, on August 27, the Malaysian government said that “it had never recognized the claim of the Republic of the Philippines over the Malaysian State of Sabah, formerly known as North Borneo. “
Kuala Lumpur was responding to what it called in the note Manila’s assertion that “Malaysia’s submission is projected from parts of northern Borneo over which the Republic of the Philippines has never relinquished sovereignty.”
This communication refers to the “remaining portion of the Malaysian continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, in the northern part of the South China Sea, from its baseline from which its territorial sea is measured constitutes commitments legitimate in compliance with the obligations of [state-parties] to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) 1982 “.
Adopted in 1982, Unclos introduced a detailed law and order regime in the world’s oceans and seas and established rules covering its use and resources.
To reinforce its claim, Malaysia cited an October 23, 2001 decision of the International Court of Justice on a case in which the Philippines asked the court to intervene in the matter. In that case, Judge Thomas Franck opined that Manila’s historic claim to Sabah is not sustainable, especially after people in the disputed area exercised their right to self-determination in accordance with international law.
Malaysia also rejected what it called “the excessive maritime claims arising from the Kalayaan Group of Islands as asserted by the Republic of the Philippines, as they have not been in conformity with part 4 of Unclos 1982 and have no basis in international law” , referring to the Spratlys islands, also the subject of territorial claims.
The note comes nearly a month after Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the Duterte administration would not abandon the country’s claim to Sabah.
He made the statement after Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammudin Hussein objected to his reprimand to the US embassy in Manila for indicating in a tweet that Sabah is in Malaysia.
Sabah was part of the centennial Sultanate of Sulu, which he obtained from Brunei as a gift. In the 18th century, the British North Borneo Co. rented it to the Sultan of Sulu for M $ 5,000 annually, which was later increased to 5,300. Malaysia, which gained independence from the British after World War II, subsequently annexed the area, but continued to pay rent.
Malaysia stopped paying after the sultan asked for the rent to be increased and when the territorial issue of Sabah was revived. Sabah residents decided to join Malaysia in 1963.
WITH REPORTS FROM BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO AND AL JACINTO
