Beijing and KL stress close ties amid territorial dispute, controversy over Chinese flag march

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian and Chinese officials focused on their healthy trade ties and the countries’ building of mutual trust at a high-profile forum on Oct 30.

This came amid tensions caused by the ongoing South China Sea territorial dispute and the recent incident of Chinese citizens waving their national flag while marching in Perak.

The Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia, Mr Ouyang Yujing, and Malaysia’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang headlined the forum – Ambassadorial Reflections Symposium: Celebrating 50 Years of Malaysia-China Relations – in Kuala Lumpur.

“With China as Malaysia’s top trading partner since 2009, our economic ties are strong. China has become a major investor, particularly in science and technology, playing a crucial role in driving Malaysia’s industrial and technological progress,” said Mr Chang in his opening remarks at the event, which was attended by some 100 people, including academics and diplomats.

The Chinese envoy in his opening speech said bilateral trade reached US$135.23 billion (S$178.6 billion) from January to August, an 11 per cent year-on-year increase.

Malaysia also received US$1.48 billion in investment from China during the same eight-month period, a 13.2 per cent year-on-year spike, Mr Ouyang said.

Underlining the close bilateral ties, Mr Ouyang said China has invited Malaysia “to be the guest of honour” at the upcoming China International Import Expo (CIIE), “which will provide excellent opportunities for Malaysia to showcase its remarkable products to the world”.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to attend the CIIE in Shanghai, coinciding with his third visit to China since taking office just two years ago. He will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang during his visit from Nov 4 to 7.

The calm bilateral diplomacy belies tensions in the South China Sea as Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire waterway on its maps, cutting into the exclusive economic zones of Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.

The Philippine and Chinese coast guards have regularly accused each other of deliberately ramming the other’s ships. Indonesia’s maritime security agency said on Oct 24 that a Chinese coast guard vessel was twice driven out of Indonesian waters, that day and on Oct 21.

In contrast, Malaysia’s Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari said on Oct 21 that the country has not acted over the presence of Chinese maritime assets off Sabah, as only China’s coast guards vessels were present and not its navy ships. He was responding to a question by the opposition in Parliament.

Separately, Chinese naval vessels Qi Jiguang and Jinggangshan had docked in Penang between Oct 7 and 9, and Chinese naval university students visited a Penang high school.

But government officials allayed concerns that allowing the docking of the ships might be a sign that Malaysia would compromise on its stance in the South China Sea dispute.

At the Oct 30 forum, a panellist acknowledged the success of Kuala Lumpur and Beijing in discussing the South China Sea dispute behind closed doors, rather than resorting to megaphone diplomacy.

But Mr Thomas Daniel, a senior fellow at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia, also cautioned that China’s assertion of territorial sovereignty has become a flashpoint in Malaysian domestic politics, as the opposition plays up the issue in the context of the country’s race-based politics.

“We have seen two examples in October 2024 alone: First, the visit of Chinese naval ships to Penang; second, a picture of Chinese tourists waving flags at the International Guan Gong Festival in Teluk Intan, Perak,” he said.

He was referring to the Oct 24 viral TikTok video showing Chinese tourists waving half a dozen of their national flag during the Guan Gong cultural parade in southern Perak, igniting protests from the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).

The parade organisers have since apologised for the presence of the Chinese flags but insisted that Malaysian and Perak flags were also unfurled during the event. In response a day later, a PAS Perak leader led a 300-strong demonstration at the same location, waving the Malaysian flag.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Oct 30 forum, Mr Chang, who is also a Perak federal lawmaker, downplayed the incident’s impact on Malaysia-China relations.

He said it “definitely” does not affect bilateral ties, adding: “We enjoy a good and deep relationship. But we urge everyone not to politicise the issue. This is not something unusual; we have been raising our flag overseas as well… China is a friend, not an enemy.”