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| Image: Flickr User - Nguyễn Thành Lam |
By Shannon Tiezzi
China is hoping economic incentives and high-level meetings can assuage Malaysia’s South China Sea concerns.
China’s outreach to ASEAN member states continues. In addition to visits by President Xi Jinping to Vietnam, Singapore, and now the Philippines, Premier Li Keqiang is preparing to head to Malaysia. Li will be attending the various ASEAN-related meetings, including the East Asia Summit, in Kuala Lumpur, in addition to having his first official visit to Malaysia.
Before Li arrived, however, Xi held his own bilateral meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in Manila, where both leaders will be attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Xi assured Najib that China considers boosting relations with Malaysia to be a priority in its neighborhood diplomacy, playing into the narrative that the two countries have a ‘special relationship.’
“China and Malaysia are good neighbors and friends that trust and respect each other,” Xi told Najib. Xi also pledged increased investment in Malaysia, and pointed to the development of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road as an opportunity to advance relations between the two sides.
Najib, for his part, told reporters that he and Xi had agreed “the state of bilateral relations is at its best based on mutual trust and friendly cooperation between the two countries as close partners.”
Still, the friendly rhetoric hides concerns in Malaysia over China’s assertive moves to advance its claims in the South China Sea – including claims to Luconia Shoal, which Malaysia considers part of its exclusive economic zone. As Prashanth Parameswaran has noted for The Diplomat, Malaysia has recently become more vocal about reacting to incursions by Chinese Coast Guard vessels.
Read the full story at The Diplomat