Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu said all parties should respect the countries of the region, including Malaysia, which had adopted a neutral stance. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

PORT KLANG, June 7 — The presence of foreign warships in the waters off the South China Sea is deemed as ‘not good’ for the security of the South-east Asia (SEA) region because it is feared this could lead to military conflict.

Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu said all parties should respect the countries of the region, including Malaysia, which had adopted a neutral stance.

“While attending the Shangri-La Dialogue (17th edition in Singapore recently) which was attended by defence ministers of various countries, I raised and stressed that Malaysia continues to strive to be a neutral nation since the time of the second prime minister.

“Malaysia has great economic interest in the national waters (Malaysia’s territorial waters) of the South China Sea, namely fisheries and oil, (and) because of that, we want the sea to be safe at all times,” he told reporters after visiting the ship, KD Mahawangsa which was cruising off the waters of Selangor here today.

Also accompanying him was Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) Commander, Admiral Tan Sri Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin.

It was the first time that Mohamad visited RMN personnel since he was appointed minister on May 21.

Following the visit, the Kota Raja MP broke fast with 186 crew members on board the KD Mahawangsa and spent time talking with them, besides distributing Aidilfitri gifts.

Mohamad also praised the persistence of the Armed Forces which worked hard to safeguard the sovereignty of the country’s waters. Most of them would be celebrating Aidilfitiri next week, away from their families.

In the meantime, when asked whether the current Defence Ministry would be the first to be audited by the Special Investigation Committee on governance issues, procurement and national finances, Mohamad said: “It’s up to the committee. We are ready”. — Bernama