Malaysia to probe media leak of diplomatic note from China

Malaysia's foreign ministry said on Sept 4 that it would file a police report and carry out an internal investigation into the leak of a classified diplomatic note sent by China's foreign ministry to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing in February.

The note was published in an article by a Philippine media outlet on Aug 29, the ministry said, without elaborating on the contents.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer on that date reported that China sent a two-page document to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing in February, asserting that Kuala Lumpur's oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea infringed on China's sovereignty.

Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the document.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory based on historical maps, including parts of the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, complicating energy exploration efforts by several of those economies.