Seeking China's Endorsement

Aside from securing the endorsement of the U.S. State Department, the Mindanao-Sulu Unification Movement (MSUM) is also considering seeking China’s support for the Sultanate of Sulu’s petition to the United Nations. The petition demands $25 billion in damages for the “illegal annexation” of Sabah, citing the U.S. Carpenter-Kiram Treaty of 1915 and a 600-year-old agreement with China that recognized the Sultanate’s sovereignty long before the creation of Malaysia and the Philippines.

Legal Push at the UN

On Sunday, the newly established MSUM declared that the London-based legal team representing the Sultanate of Sulu — which previously secured a $14.9 billion arbitration award from a French arbitral tribunal — is considering elevating the case to the UN. The lawyers are reviewing the 2004 petition, which is still pending before the International Criminal Court (ICC), as a basis for filing the new claim.

Historical Ties with China

The Sultanate’s legal representatives are also evaluating whether to invoke the 1405 treaty, historically known as the “Treaty of the Sultanate as an Independent Tributary State of China.” According to MSUM spokesperson 

Abraham Idjirani, no less than Chinese President Xi Jinping acknowledged the China-Sulu relationship during the 600th death anniversary of the East King of Sulu, commemorated at his tomb in Dezhou City, Shandong Province, China, on 20 September 2017.

Idjirani, who was among the delegates at the event, told the DAILY TRIBUNE that President Xi addressed the gathering via a large LCD screen, recognizing the historical diplomatic and trade relations between the Ming Dynasty and the Kingdom of East Sulu.

"The legacy of the 1405 treaty stood as the soul of the China Sulu relation that despite centuries the Chinese government has invited 35th Sultan of Sulu Phugdalun Kiram to attend the commemoration of the historic event recorded the annals of China Sulu history" Idjirani stated.

He further noted that the China-Sulu alliance was formalized through a treaty recognizing the Sultanate’s status as an independent tributary state of China. 

A similar protectorate agreement—the Carpenter-Kiram Treaty of 1915—placed Mindanao, Sulu, and North Borneo under U.S. protection.

The UN Petition on Sabah

According to Idjirani, the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, also known as the Bangsa Suluk Nation, formally submitted a Petition to Repossess Sabah to the United Nations in 2004 through its satellite office in Makati, Metro Manila.

The petition is grounded on sovereign, legal, and historic rights, adopting internationally recognized arguments and advocating for a peaceful settlement of the territorial dispute. 

The legal foundation of the claim references the 1915 Kiram-Carpenter Agreement, the 1947 UN Charter Resolution, the 1950 UN Resolution, and the principles of the 1885 American Monroe Doctrine.

 The late Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, acting on behalf of the 33rd Sultan Jamalul Kiram III and 34th Sultan Esmail Kiram II, spearheaded the submission, securing hundreds of signatures from followers of the Sulu Sultanate across the Sulu Archipelago, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Palawan.

Appealing to the UN for Resolution

The Sultanate of Sulu believes the United Nations is the appropriate international tribunal to resolve the Sabah dispute with Malaysia under UN principles on the pacific settlement of disputes. As a gesture of goodwill and peaceful resolution, the Ruling Family of Sulu previously accepted Malaysia’s promise in 1968 to install Datu Raja Punjungan Kiram as Sultan of Sabah under its protection, as pledged by Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman.