Malaysia’s Maritime Claims in the South China Sea

（青島大學(xué)，山東 青島 266071）

J. Ashley Roach1

This paper addresses Malaysia’s claims in the South China Sea. It does not address Malaysia’s maritime claims in the Strait of Malacca， which are addressed elsewhere.2

Background

During the late 18th and 19th centuries， Great Britain established colonies and protectorates in the area of current Malaysia. These areas were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. In 1948， the British-ruled territories on the Malay Peninsula except Singapore formed the Federation of Malaya， which became independent on August 31， 1957. Malaysia was formed on September 16， 1963， when the former British colonies of Singapore， as well as Sabah and Sarawak on the northern coast of Borneo， joined the Federation.3 Singapore became an independent State on August 9， 1965， pursuant to the Independence of Singapore Agreement， 1965.4

Today Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and one federal territory （Wilayah Persekutuan） with three components （Kuala Lumpur， Labuan， and Putrajaya）. Malaysia has two geographically separated regions： Peninsular Malaysia， with 11 states （Kedah， Perlis， Penang， Parak， Kelantan， Terengganu， Selangor， Negeri Sembilan， Melaka， Pahang， and Jahor）； and East Malaysia， on the island of Borneo， with two states （Sabah and Sarawak）. The two regions are separated by some 640 miles of the South China Sea.5

Malaysia signed the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea （LOS Convention） on December 10， 1982， and ratified the Convention on October 14， 1996， with declarations.6 Malaysia signed the Agreement in Implementation of Part XI on August 2， 1994， and consented to be bound by the Part XI Agreement on October 14， 1996.7

Maritime claims and Malaysia’s neighbors

Malaysia claims a 12-mile territorial sea （TS），8 an exclusive economic zone （EEZ），9 a

continental shelf （CS），10 and an extended continental shelf in the southern part of the South

China Sea.11

The 2009 Malaysia-Vietnam Joint Submission prompted a series of notes from China， the Philippines， Vietnam， Malaysia， and Indonesia.12 Of significance to this paper is China’s note of May 9， 2009： it included the first official publication of the nine-dash line， which passes close to the East Malaysian and Brunei coasts.13

Baselines

Malaysia employs straight baselines along its coast facing the South China Sea. They are illustrated on the maps appended to the Executive Summary of the Joint Submission14 and on the map appended to the U.S. State Department’s analysis of the 1969 Indonesia-Malaysia agreement.15 Malaysia has not given the due publicity to those straight baselines required by article 16（2）； so far as is known， no chart or list of coordinates has been submitted to the United Nations.16

作者簡(jiǎn)介：周雋如（1991—），女，漢族，山東青島。研究生，青島大學(xué)，國(guó)際關(guān)系