Putrajaya has been told to take action against Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels that have been constantly patrolling waters claimed by Malaysia, as the move allegedly violates Malaysian sovereignty.

In a statement today, PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said Putrajaya should take firmer action to protest the presence of Chinese vessels.

"This is obviously a challenge to the country's sovereignty," he said.

According to a recent report which tracked ship movements near the Luconia Shoals over a 60-day period, three Chinese vessels have been patrolling the shoal from Dec 30, 2016 onwards.

The report was a collaboration between the Centre for Strategic and International Studies’ (CSIS) Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, and the Centre for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS). Both are US-based think-tanks.

The report said the CCG ship movements are not unusual, and are consistent with a regular rotation of CCG ships near the Luconia Shoals, which CSIS and C4ADS have traced back to January 2016...