Malaysia fires off note verbale over Philippines' claim on Sabah
MANILA, Philippines — Malaysia fired off a note verbale against the controversial territorial claims of the Philippines over the state of Sabah.
The note verbale stated that Malaysia “has never recognized the Republic of the Philippines’ claim to the Malaysian state of Sabah, formerly known as North Borneo”.
On July 27, 2020, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. threatened the United States Embassy over its tweet mentioning Sabah as part of Malaysia.
"Sabah is not in Malaysia if you want to have anything to do with the Philippines," Locsin wrote, quoting the US Embassy's Twitter account that reported on a donation to Filipino repatriates who arrived in Zamboanga and Tawi-Tawi from Sabah.
Locsin's tweet revived an issue that many diplomats have decided to keep dormant.
It also led to a Twitter spat with Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, calling Locsin's tweet "irresponsible."
This is an irresponsible statement that affects bilateral ties. @MalaysiaMFA will summon the Philippines Ambassador on Monday to explain. Sabah is, and will always be, part of Malaysia. https://t.co/KcUnDxOySl
— Hishammuddin Hussein ???????? (@HishammuddinH2O) July 29, 2020
"[The Malaysia Ministry of Foreign Affairs will summon the Philippines Ambassador on Monday to explain. Sabah is, and will always be, part of Malaysia," Hussein tweeted on July 29.
In response to his Malaysian counterpart, Locsin summoned Hussein and said that "no country can tell another what it can and cannot say about what the latter regards as rightfully its own."
The Sulu sultanate used to rule over parts of southern Philippines and Sabah. In 1963, the British government transferred Sabah to the Federation of Malaysia.
The Philippines claims that Sabah was only leased, not ceded, to the British North Borneo Co. The heirs of the sultan of Sulu continue to receive lease payments for Sabah.
Malaysia, however, maintains that the international community has been recognizing Sabah as part of its territory since the formation of the federation in 1963.
In 2016, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and President Rodrigo Duterte agreed to set aside the decades-long disagreement on Sabah to boost cooperation against security threats along their shared maritime borders. — with reports from Patricia Lourdes Viray
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