Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad yesterday said that his government plans to develop some offshore rocks which were the subject of a territorial dispute with Singapore, days after he canceled a big rail project with his southern neighbor.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarded the outcrop, known as Middle Rocks, near the opening of the Straits of Singapore to Malaysia in 2008.
At the same time, the court based in the Netherlands ruled nearby Pedra Branca island belonged to Singapore.
Malaysia sought a review of that ruling last year, in the hope of restaking its claim to Pedra Branca.
Singapore opposed Malaysia’s bid to review the ruling and the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that the ICJ had informed it Malaysia had withdrawn that request.
Malaysia’s newly elected prime minister told a news conference that Malaysia had already been building structures on Middle Rocks.
“It is our intention to enlarge Middle Rocks so we can form a small island for us,” he said.
Mahathir declined to elaborate, saying the plan had not been finalized.
The Singaporean government did not immediately have a comment on the Malaysian plan to build on the rocks.
While Singapore has not been seeking to revive any claim to Middle Rocks, it is likely to keep a close eye on Malaysia’s plan to develop the outcrop at the opening of one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported last year the opening of a maritime base called Abu Bakar on Middle Rocks.
The base comprises a jetty linking two main rocks — 320m apart — a lighthouse and a helipad, a video posted on Facebook by the sultan of the Malaysian state of Johor showed.
Mahathir has already made a major decision affecting relations with Singapore, canceling a project to build a high-speed rail link between Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, and the city-state.
The Singaporean Ministry of Trade and Industry on Monday said that it had not received any official communication from Malaysia on the decision.
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
US president-elect Donald Trump is not typically known for his calm or reserve, but in a craftsman’s workshop in rural China he sits in divine contemplation. Cross-legged with his eyes half-closed in a pose evoking the Buddha, this porcelain version of the divisive US leader-in-waiting is the work of designer and sculptor Hong Jinshi (洪金世). The Zen-like figures — which Hong sells for between 999 and 20,000 yuan (US$136 to US$2,728) depending on their size — first went viral in 2021 on the e-commerce platform Taobao, attracting national headlines. Ahead of the real-estate magnate’s inauguration for a second term on Monday next week,
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS