Malaysia denies China's encroachment on its waters

Malaysia has dismissed recent foreign reports that China's navy ships patrolled an area which is also claimed by the Southeast Asian country, referring to them as inaccurate. Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar said China was actually holding a high-level maritime exercise in the northwest of the Nansha islands (regarded by the Philippines as Spratly islands), which was far away from Malaysia's 200 nm exclusive economic zone, according to the New Strait Times Wednesday. "There has been no act of provocation on the part of the Chinese or threat to our sovereignty," said Aziz, adding that Malaysia and the United States was aware of this. The navy chief said the RMN was informed of the maritime exercise through diplomatic channels, adding that there was no reason for alarm. Aziz spoke highly of the cordial relations between Malaysia and China, claiming it was China's right to conduct the exercise. Recently there were some reports claiming China's navy ships having patrolled an area contested by Malaysia, which some think might hurt the two countries' relations.