Presence Of Chinese Coast Guard Ships Outside Sarawak Waters Under Control

KUCHING (Sarawak, Malaysia), Feb 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the presence of Chinese coast guard ships outside the Gugusan Beting Patinggi Ali waters, about 84 nautical miles from the coast of Miri in east Malaysian state Sarawak is under control. He was confident that direct communication between the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia and the Sarawak state leadership would be able to help in strengthening the confidence of the Sarawak people who were concerned about the presence of the ships. In his meeting with Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem two days ago, Hishammuddin said he had informed that he would try to get the Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia, Dr Huang Huikang to call on the Chief Minister soon. He said he had directed Navy Chief, Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin to contact the Chinese Embassy to arrange for the meeting. "In fact tomorrow (Sunday) in Sembrong (in southern state Johor) I will be with Ambassador Dr Huang to celebrate the Chinese New Year, so I can convey the message later ... so do not worry, the situation is under control," he said at a media conference after visiting the Heroes' Mausoleum, here Saturday. Hishammuddin, who is also the Member of Parliament for Sembrong, said this when asked on the presence of the Chinese coast guard ships in the area which was detected two years ago, which resulted in local deep sea fishermen fearing to go there. --BERNAMA