page_title: Sabah
section_title: Territorial disputes
hierarchical_section_title: Sabah / Security / Territorial disputes
caption_attribution_description: Spratly islands map showing occupied features marked with the flags of countries occupying them. &#160; Philippines &#160; Republic of China (Taiwan) &#160; Vietnam &#160; Malaysia &#160; People's Republic of China The flags are placed such that no text and other flag is overlapped. Hence, some flags are not in the exact coordinates where they should actually lie. However, they still portray the general picture on how Spratly Islands are divided among claimant nations. All occupied features are placed with flags, including those which are not labeled in the map. Here are all unlabeled features: Ban Than Reef (T) The flag below the flag for Itu Aba Island (T). Higgens Reef (V) The flag sandwiched between the flags for Sin Cowe Island (V) and Landsowne Reef (V). Whitson Reef (C) The flag nearest Chigua Reef label. Based on coordinates of Whitson Reef which is 10°00'N 114°43'E, it should lie there. Kennan Reef (C) The flag nearest the flag for Johnson South Reef (C).
context_page_description: Sabah is a state of Malaysia located on the northern portion of Borneo. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's Kalimantan region to the south. The Federal Territory of Labuan is an island just off the Sabah coast. Sabah shares maritime borders with Vietnam to the west and the Philippines to the north and east. Kota Kinabalu is the state capital city, the economic centre of the state and the seat of the Sabah state government. Other major towns in Sabah include Sandakan and Tawau. As of the 2015 census in Malaysia, the state's population is 3,543,500. Sabah has an equatorial climate with tropical rainforests and abundant animal and plant species. The state has long mountain ranges on the west side which form part of the Crocker Range National Park. Kinabatangan River, second longest river in Malaysia runs through Sabah and Mount Kinabalu is the highest point of Sabah as well as of Malaysia.
  The earliest human settlement in Sabah can be traced back to 20,000–30,000 years ago along the Darvel Bay area at the Madai-Baturong caves. The state has had a trading relationship with China starting from the 14th century AD.
context_section_description: Sabah has seen several territorial disputes with Malaysia's neighbours Indonesia and the Philippines. In 2002, both Malaysia and Indonesia submitted to arbitration by the ICJ on a territorial dispute over the Ligitan and Sipadan islands which were later won by Malaysia. There are also several other disputes yet to be settled with Indonesia over the overlapping claims on the Ambalat continental shelf in the Celebes Sea and land border dispute between Sabah and North Kalimantan. Malaysia's claim over a portion of the Spratly Islands is also based on sharing a continental shelf with Sabah.
  The Philippines has a territorial claim over much of the eastern part of Sabah. It claims that the territory is connected with the Sultanate of Sulu and was only leased to the North Borneo Chartered Company in 1878 with the Sultanate's sovereignty never being relinquished. Malaysia however, considers this dispute as a "non-issue", as it interprets the 1878 agreement as that of cession and that it deems that the residents of Sabah had exercised their right to self-determination when they joined to form the Malaysian federation in 1963. The Philippine claim can be originated based on three historical events; such as the Brunei Civil War from 1660 until 1673, treaty between Dutch East Indies and the Bulungan Sultanate in 1850 and treaty between Sultan Jamal ul-Azam with Overbeck in 1878.
  Further attempts by several Filipino politicians such as Ferdinand Marcos to "destabilise" Sabah proved to be futile and led to the Jabidah massacre in Corregidor Island, Philippines. As a consequence, this led the Malaysian government to once supporting the insurgency in southern Philippines. Although the Philippine claim to Sabah has not been actively pursued for some years, some Filipino politicians are promising to bring it up again, while the Malaysian government asks the Philippines not to threaten ties over such issue. The Royal Malaysia Police and the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister made a proposal to ban barter trade between Malaysia and the Philippines as it was seen only benefited to one side and threatening the security of the state. This was enforced then although facing numerous opposition from Filipino resident on the nearest Philippine islands due to the raise of the living cost in their region after the ban as well from the Malaysian opposition parties, while receiving positive welcomes by Sabahans residents and politicians. The barter trade activity was resumed on 1 February 2017 with the increase of security surveillance and enforcement from both Malaysia and the Philippines authorities to jointly secure their borders. Despite the return of barter trade activity, the state of Sabah has maintained they will always be cautious on their trade with the Philippines. In 2016, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak have agreed to set aside the two countries’ dispute over Sabah for the meantime.
caption: Map of the Spratly Islands with various countries such as China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam occupying the islands not far from the shore of Sabah.
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