SIMIC

MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim expressed his willingness to negotiate with China regarding a maritime dispute between the two countries, reports Reuters.
This comes after reports from a think tank that China was patrolling close to a Malaysian offshore gas project.
The South China Sea is claimed almost entirely by China, with overlapping claims by Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
The dispute was discussed by Mr Anwar and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting last week.
Mr Anwar did not provide further details on which dispute or area of the South China Sea was discussed.
"In that area, there is a similar claim from China. I said [to them] that as a small country that needs oil and gas resources, we have to continue. But if the condition is that there must be negotiation, then we are ready to negotiate," said Mr Anwar.
China's claim to 90 per cent of the South China Sea is depicted by a "nine-dash line" on its maps, cutting through the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of five southeast Asian nations.
However, an international arbitration ruling in 2016 deemed this line invalid, a decision that China rejects.
Malaysian state oil company Petronas operates oil and gas fields in the South China Sea within Malaysia's EEZ, which has led to multiple encounters with Chinese vessels in recent years.
One of these incidents involved a month-long standoff in 2020 between a Chinese survey ship and an oil exploration vessel contracted by Petronas, which China claimed was conducting normal activities.