With eye on China, Malaysia pushes for new naval base in Sarawak. How will it impact their ties?

KUALA LUMPUR: After a dormant decade, calls for a new naval base in a sleepy town in Sarawak have gathered steam in recent weeks, with Malaysia potentially eyeing a more assertive stance against Chinese pressure in resource-rich areas near the Borneo state.

But in building Malaysia’s latest naval base in Bintulu, closer to the disputed waters in the South China Sea, analysts believe Putrajaya will still steer clear of stirring up the hornet’s nest. 

Malaysia is unlikely to adopt more aggressive responses to Chinese vessel incursions, they told CNA, given its overarching aim to maintain its low-key approach on the maritime territorial claims and preserve its lucrative economic ties with Beijing.

China, currently embroiled in its own scuffles with the Philippines in the same strategic waterways farther north, will also be keen to keep its ties with Malaysia on an even keel, hoping to alienate Manila from other Southeast Asian claimant states, the analysts said.

Dr Collin Koh, a senior fellow at Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the Sarawak naval base will not alter China-Malaysia ties as long as the Malaysian government continues to keep a “non-megaphone” approach to the dispute.

“The naval base and potentially increased Malaysian maritime presence in the area may come across as a nuisance to Beijing, but that’s just it,” he told CNA.

“End of the day, it’s the political demeanour in Kuala Lumpur, not what’s happening on the ground with Malaysia’s naval buildup in Borneo, that seems to be the key determinant in overall relationship with Beijing.”

CHINESE VESSELS “LIKE CLOCKWORK”

The Region 4 Naval Headquarters in Bintulu will be Malaysia’s sixth main naval base. The country has three bases in West Malaysia and another two in Sabah.

The Malaysian government has said that the latest base will improve surveillance efforts in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea by allowing the navy to send ships there faster.

The base, which will be home to Malaysia’s three new littoral mission ships, will be built on a 200-acre site in Samalaju, northern Bintulu. Construction will reportedly be done in two phases, with the base expected to be inaugurated in 2030.

According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a country retains exclusive rights to the exploration and exploitation of natural resources in its EEZ, defined as waters extending up to 200 nautical miles (370km) immediately offshore.

Malaysia’s EEZ comprises areas abundant in oil and gas that it says contribute almost 25 per cent to its gross domestic product. These include the Luconia Shoals or what Malaysia calls Beting Patinggi Ali and Beting Raja Jarum, a group of mostly submerged reefs that lie between various Malaysian oil and gas sites 155km off the coast of Sarawak.

China, which claims most of the South China Sea within its so-called nine-dash line, has regularly protested against Malaysia’s activities in the Luconia Shoals and has maintained a constant presence there. Chinese coast guard vessels have reportedly harassed Malaysian drilling rigs and survey ships.

A report released by the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) on Oct 1 cited tracking data that showed Chinese coast guard ships operated in Malaysia’s EEZ “like clockwork” in 2024.

From Jan 1 to Sep 27, AMTI found that at least one Chinese coast guard vessel was in the area nearly every day, remaining there for up to six weeks before being relieved by another ship.

On Aug 29, a Philippine news outlet published a diplomatic note sent in February to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing, in which China demanded that Malaysia cease all activities in the resource-rich area.

Malaysia responded to the article by saying it will continue to defend its sovereign rights in its waters, although it expressed concern that the note was “leaked”.

Despite the high stakes, Malaysia will be wary that further escalation on its part will risk a harsher response from China’s far superior naval forces, mirroring a situation the Philippines now finds itself in, experts told CNA.

“If Malaysia is doing the same (as the Philippines), we might expect China to escalate its moves against its interests in the South China Sea,” Dr Koh said.

Besides the trio, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan also have overlapping claims in the South China Sea. 

Malaysia has largely played down Chinese incursions in its EEZ and kept to its longstanding, non-confrontational approach in the South China Sea, preferring to turn to diplomatic channels and refusing to let the tensions colour its bilateral relationship with China.

But in recent months, senior politicians in Sarawak have publicly urged the federal government to beef up naval presence in the state, warning of China’s actions and the devastating consequences of losing such an economically crucial area to a foreign power.

On the same day news about the Chinese diplomatic note was first published, Sarawak’s Tourism, Creative Industries and Performing Arts Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah called for the construction of the naval base to be expedited.

"Recently, China has become more powerful and possesses a strong naval fleet, making them increasingly vocal and aggressive in expanding their maritime boundaries by showcasing their maritime assets in those waters," he was quoted as saying by Berita Harian.

"Malaysia's wealth in oil and gas lies there. What will happen if the sovereignty of that area is eroded by the expansion of maritime boundaries by a superpower?"

Malaysian Defence Minister Khaled Nordin told local media in August that the federal government was in the final stages of negotiating with Sarawak the land price for the naval base, with construction expected to start after an agreement is reached. No timeline for completion has been given.

WILL SARAWAK NAVAL BASE COUNTER CHINA?

Plans to build the Bintulu naval base, which will be Sarawak's first, was first confirmed in 2013 but only gained traction in 2023 after a suitable spot in Samalaju Industrial Park was found. Sarawak’s waters were previously thought to be too shallow to accommodate a base.

Meanwhile, Malaysia has relied on naval ships stationed at a more distant base in Sabah to patrol its EEZ. Sabah has two main bases: One in Teluk Sepanggar near Kota Kinabalu and another in Sandakan.

Then-defence minister Mohamad Hasan told parliament in September 2023 that ships from the nearest Teluk Sepanggar base would take 19 hours to reach Beting Patinggi Ali, compared to nine hours from Bintulu at the same speed of 12 knots (22kmh).

With Sabah and Sarawak having thousands of kilometres of coastline, a lack of naval bases will lead to poor accessibility and response times during a crisis, exposing Malaysia to external threats, an expert warned.

Dr Tharishini Krishnan, a senior lecturer at Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia, wrote in a 2021 commentary published by the New Straits Times that setting up a base in Sarawak will “reduce the overstretched logistical support” from Sabah in overseeing these areas.

“Moreover, the physical existence of MAWILLA 4 will deny China's effort to persistently seek to alter the status quo there,” she said, using the abbreviated name for the Bintulu naval base.

With that said, Dr Koh highlighted that both the Malaysian navy and coast guard are ill-equipped for EEZ patrols, which require ships that can spend large periods of time out at sea.

The Malaysian navy’s fleet is ageing with hardware that needs replacing, while the coast guard mainly operates vessels more suitable for coastal patrols instead of the open waters of the EEZ, he said.

And while the Sarawak naval base will be home to Malaysia’s new littoral mission ships that are currently being built and will be more suited for EEZ missions, Dr Koh said it will take another three to four years before they are fully operational.

“The new Bintulu base notwithstanding, what is more crucial are the physical assets available that Malaysia can tap to safeguard its South China Sea interests, and that will have to be more offshore-capable ships supported by other maritime domain awareness tools,” he said.

Depending on asset availability, Malaysia could deploy at least one ship to the EEZ at any one time to show it will not give in to “Beijing’s illegitimate claims”, Dr Koh added. 

Dr Ian Storey, a maritime security expert at the ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, told CNA that the new base will strengthen Malaysia's “dual-track policy” on the South China Sea dispute.

It will help the navy “maintain a constant presence” in the oil and gas fields off Sarawak while Malaysia downplays tensions with China to preserve their economic ties, he said.

“The new base won't have a negative impact on bilateral relations as both the navy and coast guard will maintain a non-confrontational approach towards Chinese vessels in Malaysia's EEZ,” he predicted.

Royal Malaysian Navy chief Admiral Zulhelmy Ithnain told reporters on Oct 2 that the navy maintains a presence in contested areas but will “avoid aggressive actions”.

“Our primary strategy is to defuse situations through diplomacy. Military assets are only used if diplomacy fails, which we do not believe will happen,” he was reported by the Daily Express as saying at a submarine conference.

DIFFERENT SHADES OF DIPLOMACY

While Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said he is willing to discuss the territorial dispute with China, attracting criticism for seemingly being too lenient, Dr Storey believes it is just another attempt at defusing the situation rather than any genuine offer of concession.

It is worth noting that Mr Anwar has insisted that Malaysia’s exploration and drilling activities in the EEZ will continue despite China’s objections, a point confirmed by the AMTI report.

“Despite the Chinese coast guard’s efforts, Malaysia has not only continued its existing oil and gas production but also expanded exploratory activity,” it said, noting that 15 new exploratory wells were drilled off Sarawak in 2024.

Dr Azmi Hassan, a foreign policy analyst and fellow at the National Council of Professors, said Malaysia’s move to continue its oil and gas activities there was “correct”.

“The most that China has done is just shadowing these projects, and so far nothing much has happened, because diplomacy is our way,” he told CNA.

“I think the way to resolve the issue is to talk (with China) about our EEZ, which is based on maritime law. When it is based on maritime law, China will always be on the losing side, because they have no justification in saying that Malaysia’s EEZ is theirs.”

On the other hand, Dr Azmi disagreed with comments coming out of Sarawak that called for a more tangible response to the dispute, saying that Malaysia will end up on the “losing side” in any kind of physical confrontation with China.

“We shouldn’t be upping the ante to face China using our navy … We don't want to fall into the trap that Manila is currently in. Even though the United States is behind the Philippines, physical altercation will not resolve the issue,” he said.

China’s continuous presence at the Luconia Shoals does not come close to matching the scale of its activity farther north in the disputed Spratly Islands, where Beijing has deployed dozens of coast guard and hundreds of militia ships to contest Philippine activities there, the AMTI report said.

In a sign of escalating tensions, Manila in September accused a Chinese coast guard ship of intentionally ramming a Philippine vessel near Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands. The Chinese coast guard has also been alleged to have used “grey-zone” techniques like water cannons and high-intensity lasers against Philippine vessels.

Dr Storey said China has “its hands full” trying to counter the Philippines’ presence in the disputed area, and does not want to “pick a fight” with any other Southeast Asian claimant states at the moment.

“Malaysia and China have friendly and productive ties and neither side wants the South China Sea dispute to impair bilateral relations, as it has done with the Philippines and sometimes Vietnam,” he said.

Dr Koh said it is plausible that China will seek to keep Malaysia on its “good side”.

“End of the day, it’ll be a nightmare scenario for China if all concerned Southeast Asian parties in the South China Sea adopt the same posture as what Manila is now doing,” he added.