Yet this was the word of choice by Malaysia’s Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein in a press interview last week in Kuala Lumpur following a keynote address to the Malaysian Defence Staff College.
Hishammuddin remarked that “if the reports that (the Malaysian Ministry of Defence has) received from various sources regarding the build-up and placement of military assets (by Beijing) in the Spratlys are true, this forces us into a pushback against China”.
The defence minister also disclosed efforts to meet and hold talks with his Australian, Philippines and Vietnamese counterparts to discuss China’s ongoing activities that appear to militarise the South China Sea.
The change of tone is notable, considering Hishammuddin glossed over questions on China’s frequent patrols around James Shoal in August 2013 by stating that the Chinese “can patrol every day, but if their intention is not to go to war it is less of a concern”.
What motivated Hishammuddin to adopt a harder stance against creeping Chinese assertiveness?
First, Hishammuddin’s remarks caught many off guard, since Malaysian senior ministers are usually more circumspect in criticising China. While the very public insinuation of the looming Chinese threat was surprising, the sentiments that animate the threat were not.
In fact, the Malaysian security establishment has been concerned over Chinese actions in the South China Sea for some time. Intrusions by Chinese vessels into Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) have been the norm rather than the exception.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Shahidan Kassim, who also oversees the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), reported to the Senate in March 2014 that the MMEA had “increased their operational presence at South Luconia Shoals (located 84 nautical miles off the coast of Sarawak) from 269 sailing days in 2014 to 345 sailing days in 2015”. He also informed the Senators that China had deployed a coast guard ship in the vicinity of the South Luconia Shoals for the past two years.
To be sure, China’s brazen actions in the South China Sea have not gone down well with the Malaysian security establishment, casting a shadow over Sino-Malaysian ties.
Second, the effects of Chinese actions are not confined to the diplomatic-legal-security realm. The domestic political ramifications of Chinese intrusions are making it increasingly hard for Kuala Lumpur to turn a blind eye. Chinese coast guard ships, for example, use intimidation tactics to drive away Malaysian fishing vessels from the South Luconia Shoals, depriving the local community of their livelihood.
Jamali Basri, chairman of the Miri Fishermen Association, lamented that as a result of China’s gunboat diplomacy, “only fishing boats from China could fish in the area”.
Just last December, a group of 20 representatives from the Sarawak Association for People’s Aspiration held a protest in front of the Chinese Consulate in Kuching. Against greater political awareness on the issue, the federal government cannot afford to be seen as indifferent to the plight of Sarawakians with the state elections scheduled on April 30.
Not entirely anti-China yet
In the near term, the South China Sea will continue to feature in the local politics of Sabah and Sarawak, as it will be a test case of Putrajaya’s regard for East Malaysia.
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