Malaysia, Philippines, and Taiwan protest 'China Map'

The Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan have said that they do not recognise China's claims in the South China Sea as outlined in the 2023 edition of the 'standard map' of China'

The Philippines on Thursday called on China "to act responsibly and abide by its obligations" under international law and a 2016 arbitral ruling that had declared Beijing's 'U-shaped line' had no legal grounds.

Malaysia said it had filed a diplomatic protest over the map. The new map holds no binding authority over Malaysia, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. "The map, among other things, displays China's unilateral maritime claims that encroach upon Malaysia's maritime areas in Sabah and Sarawak based on the 1979 Malaysia new map," it said.

Malaysia consistently rejects any foreign party's claims to sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over maritime features or maritime areas in the South China Sea, based on the 1979 Malaysia new map, according to Kuala Lumpur.

"Malaysia also views the South China Sea issue as a complex and sensitive matter," the statement said, adding that the issue needs to be managed peacefully and rationally through dialogue and negotiations based on provisions of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

"Malaysia remains committed to cooperating to ensure all parties implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea comprehensively and effectively. We are also committed to effective and substantive negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (CoC) with the goal of finalising the CoC as soon as possible," it said.

On Monday, the Chinese ministry of natural resources issued the 2023 edition of China standard map, which also covered the exclusive economic zone maritime areas of Malaysia near Sabah and Sarawak, Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, as well as Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin.

Taiwan foreign ministry spokesperson Jeff Liu said Taiwan was "absolutely not a part of the People's Republic of China".

"No matter how the Chinese government twists its position on Taiwan's sovereignty, it cannot change the objective fact of our country's existence," he told a press briefing.