Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah  (Source: malaymail.com)

He voiced his concerns over the more frequentappearance of Chinese vessels in areas near the coast of Malaysia while thenegotiations on building a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) with Beijingis going on.

Besides, Saifuddin said Malaysia’s foreignministry will set up a maritime research centre and invite ASEAN member nationsto join.

He also mentioned a series of issues and challengesthat ASEAN is facing and called on the bloc to redouble efforts to deal withthe rise of radicalism and extremism.

Malaysia will actively take part in the fieldthrough activities of ASEAN counter-terrorism centre, he affirmed./.VNA