KUALA LUMPUR: There are no Chinese coastguard and navy ships in Malaysian waters anymore, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said.
He said this in relation to Tuesday's National Audit Department's report which said Chinese ships had intruded into Malaysian waters in the disputed South China Sea 89 times between 2016 and 2019.
"All the Chinese ships which used to be in our waters are no longer there. How we did it? That's between us and the Chinese government.
"One thing for sure is that we will not compromise when it involves the sovereignty of our country," he told a press conference at the Parliament today.
According to the audit report, Malaysia had sent six diplomatic protests to China over encroachment in its waters, including one in 2017 in response to a Chinese note asserting its claim to the South Luconia Shoals, a fishing ground off Sarawak.
The audit also revealed that the Chinese ships often remained in Malaysian waters even after being turned away by the Malaysian navy.
The report comes amid growing tension between the United States and China over Beijing's claims to most of the South China Sea which is a major trade route.
Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan have their own claims which overlap in part with China's and in some cases, with each other.
"In 100 days of helming this ministry, we have managed to resolve this issue and it wasn't an easy task to get cooperation between Asean countries since we have overlapping claims too.
"Malaysia-China relations are good now. We don't have the ability to fight with the superpowers but what we can do is to hold discussions and ensure that they don't intrude into our waters," he said.
Aside from China, Hishammuddin said his ministry has also been able to repair Malaysia's relations with India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.