DAP is committed to upholding Malaysia’s sovereignty and territorial rights and backs Foreign Ministry’s move to continue using diplomatic channels to resolve the dispute in South China Sea.

“We support Wisma Putra’s continued efforts to push for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) agreement between China and Asean that will provide a framework for resolving the current disputes in a peaceful manner and de-escalate tensions in the South China Sea,” its organising secretary Anthony Loke said in a statement today.

He said any disputes in the South China Sea should be resolved peacefully through diplomatic channels, including references to international law such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).

Loke noted that China, Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, and Malaysia are all signatories of UNCLOS.

His statement comes after DAP member Hew Kuan Yau came under fire for saying that “South China Sea belongs to China! Don’t oppose the Chinese simply because you are anti-communist”.

Hew had defended the statement as his personal view as a PhD graduate in comparative history.

“Historians cannot narrowly look at the problem from purely a patriotism perspective.

“We should understand and resolve the dispute from the height of defending regional and global peace,” he had told Malaysiakini earlier.

Meanwhile, Loke said Wisma Putra should explain the implications of the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s (PCA) ruling on the South China Sea dispute between Philippines and China.

He added that the ministry should also explain what steps Malaysia would take to preserve its own claims on the South China Sea.

“We ask Wisma Putra to explain to the Malaysian public the full implication of the PCA ruling to Malaysia and the steps which it will take to preserve and protect the integrity and security of Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) which is within the South China Sea."

Loke said the DAP is committed to upholding Malaysia’s sovereignty and territorial rights, including the areas within 200 nautical miles from Malaysia’s coastline that constitutes its EEZ.

Previously, China had laid claim to large swathes of the South China Sea, including in waters claimed by Malaysia and several other Asean countries. The claims are based on an area encompassed by 11 dashed lines drawn on a 1948 map.

Subsequent Chinese official maps had depicted the area using nine dashed lines, and China's South China Sea claims became known as the 'nine-dash line' area.

The Philippines brought the dispute between it and China to PCA in The Hague, which rejected China’s claims what the Philippines considered to be part of its EEZ.

China, which claimed that the court has no jurisdiction over the matter and boycotted the proceedings, warned that the ruling would “intensify conflict and even confrontation”.