KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 — Malaysia is firm in defending the freedom of the South China Sea in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

However, he said Malaysia has never closed the door to discussions with any country on this matter.

"The centrality of Asean’s approach is through negotiation and dialogue, but Malaysia will not waver from our claims and stance regarding Malaysian-owned areas.

"That is why Petronas’ exploration activities, including in the Kasawari area, continue. Even though this has been raised by China, we said we will proceed but have never closed the door for discussions with any country,” he said during Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Bharu) on Malaysia’s strategy to use diplomatic channels as the ASEAN Chair in 2025 to resolve overlapping claims in the South China Sea.