KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will continue to voice out and protest if the country's waters are used as a military passage by any country without permission, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said the issues surrounding borders did not just involve disputes with China alone.
"Malaysia has issues with all neighbouring countries, including Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei.
"This is why we disagree when the issue on borders is only being referred to in relation to China. This is especially so when we also have issues with other countries.
"However, these problems do not affect diplomatic relations, trade and the close friendship we have with our neighbours," he said during the Prime Minister Question Time in Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a question from Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan (Perikatan Nasional-Kota Baru), who asked about Malaysia's approach and strategy in making use of diplomatic channels as Asean chair in resolving South China Sea disputes.
Anwar reiterated that Malaysia's approach when dealing with the issue of borders would be through negotiation and dialogue.
"On the Code of Conduct framework, I had stressed on the need for dialogue in the last Asean meeting in front of the United States and China, including Japan, South Korea and Asean members, and the dialogue is tied to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS).
"UNCLOS binds everyone and I see that China's response is to agree to resolve the matter using the UNCLOS framework."
He also said Malaysia would not waver in its position on areas that belonged to the country.
"That is why oil exploration by Petronas, including in the Kasawari gas project area, continues.
"Even though it was raised by China, we said we will continue the exploration but we have never closed the door on any discussions with any country," he added.