KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 ― Singapore’s High Commission asserted today that the republic’s security agencies have been “exercising restraint” in enforcing its territorial waters, amid reports of its Navy vessels spotted within the new Johor Baru Port limits.
In a statement, it described Malay Mail’s report of the country’s Navy vessels’ presence as “mischaracterising the situation on the ground and ignoring Singapore’s efforts to maintain a calm situation there”.
“Singapore’s security agencies have been exercising restraint in enforcing Singapore Territorial Waters off Tuas despite repeated intrusions by Malaysian Government vessels,” said the High Commission’s press officer Ann-Margaret Mathew.
It highlighted the Singapore’s proposal on December 7 that Malaysia return to the status quo prior to October 25 this year, saying its position remains the same.
Last week, Malay Mail reported that the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) sent a patrol ship into Johor Baru’s new port limits several times earlier the same week, after Putrajaya’s offer to de-escalate the standoff in the contested waters off Johor.
The sightings of the Singaporean military vessel followed Malaysia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry saying on Monday it will take measures to de-escalate the situation with Singapore, ahead of a proposed bilateral talk next month.
Malaysia has proposed to Singapore a mutual cease and desist from sending any assets into the disputed area by December 9. The proposal was rejected by Singapore.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysian vessels will remain in the disputed waters along the Malaysia-Singapore maritime border and will stay there until the negotiation process between the two countries is settled.
In the same statement, the Singapore High Commission also disputed that the new Johor Baru port limits are within Malaysia’s territorial waters, calling it “inaccurate even going by Malaysia’s own conduct” and reiterated that Malaysia does not recognise the boundary it declared in 1979.
“At that time, no land reclamation at Tuas in Singapore had taken place. So the territorial waters boundary claimed by Malaysia could not possibly have taken into account any reclamation by Singapore,” it said.
In the report last week, Malay Mail had pointed out that despite denoting the 1979 as a “status quo” for the Malaysian maritime border, the converse was not true for Singapore which has even reclaimed land for Tuas overlapping the same line.
Singapore also claimed that Malaysia had never laid claim to the waters within the new port limits prior to October 28, and had never protested Singapore’s “continuous exercise of jurisdiction” there including regular deployment of its security agencies in the area for decades.
Malaysia has changed its administration on May 9, after Pakatan Harapan defeated Barisan Nasional which has governed the country for six decades.
Wisma Putra and its Singapore counterpart are now expected to hold bilateral talks to discuss the maritime and air borders dispute between the two neighbours next month.
