Scheduled to be ready by 2030, the base will offer better protection for Sarawak and Sabah in the face of repeated incursions by the Chinese navy into Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Sarawakian coast.
Other countries in the region have suffered a similar experience. In August, the Philippines coast guard complained that its ship, the BRP Teresa Magbanua, was rammed thrice by a Chinese vessel without provocation.
On Sept 29, a Chinese ship was reported to have entered Vietnamese waters and attacked a local fishing boat, injuring 10 people.
Malaysia suffered its own breach earlier in that month after three Chinese naval vessels reportedly encroached into the country’s EEZ off Sarawak, and were found loitering near an offshore oil rig.
According to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, at least one Chinese coast guard vessel has entered and operated in Malaysian waters every day between Jan 1 and Sept 27 this year.
These ships were reported to have mostly patrolled the waters around the Luconia Shoals, some 100km off Sarawak’s coast, where numerous national oil and gas (O&G) exploration projects are located.
In August this year, a Filipino media outlet leaked a diplomatic note purportedly issued by Beijing protesting Malaysia’s activities in the area, which China claims under its controversial nine-dash map.
The disputed map claims for the superpower a substantial portion of Malaysia’s EEZ off the coasts of Sarawak and Sabah, including Luconia, but none of Peninsular Malaysia’s waters. It also seeks to claim maritime territory belonging to Vietnam, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The Bintulu naval base will add to three others already located in East Malaysia – situated in Labuan, Teluk Sepanggar and Sandakan.
Last November, the defence ministry also announced its intention to build a Royal Malaysian Air Force base in the vicinity of the Bintulu airport.
Having secured the federal government’s approval for its development in June 2023, the ministry is understood to be in the final stages of purchasing the land on which the air base will be built.
East Malaysia’s vulnerability
Strategically located near Luconia and, in particular, the Kasawari gas fields, which are estimated to contain approximately 90.61 billion cubic metres of natural gas, the new Bintulu base will allow the navy to respond speedily to incursions into the area, analysts told the South China Morning Post earlier this month.
It will also answer Sarawak’s call for Putrajaya to increase the military’s presence in Bintulu, given the city’s increasing importance as a natural resource hub and industrial centre.
Located some 610km northeast of Kuching, Bintulu is home to Petronas’s liquid natural gas (LNG) complex, which processes LNG mined in Sarawak.
The Sarawak basin holds about 61% of Malaysia’s estimated oil reserves, believed to be in the region of 4.2 billion barrels of oil, with Peninsular Malaysia accounting for 20%, and Sabah, 19%.
Presently, about 90% of Petronas’s LNG cargoes are said to come from, or pass through, Sarawak.
Protecting these basins is critical to Malaysia’s economic growth and development. As of 2021, Petronas has contributed as least RM1.2 trillion to O&G activities in these basins.
Putrajaya has over several decades used oil revenue to pay for national budgets— including providing development funds to Sarawak and Sabah.
The government also foots all defence bills under Malaysia’s federal system, a critical expenditure which ensures the safety of the entire country and its economic growth.
Meanwhile, the federal government is focused on resolving all potential tensions with China diplomatically.
With Malaysia taking over the Asean chair in 2025, the government hopes to conclude negotiations between the regional grouping and China over a code of conduct for the South China Sea, negotiations for which have been ongoing since 2018.