CHINA ROLLS OUT THE RED CARPET FOR MALAYSIA’S ANWAR & SINGAPORE’S HSIEN LOONG – ANWAR TO MEET XI ON FRIDAY IN LANDMARK VISIT – ‘THIS CLEARLY SHOWS THE ASPIRATIONS OF THE CHINESE GOVT, ESPECIALLY PRESIDENT XI JINPING, WHO HAS JUST BEEN APPOINTED AS PRESIDENT FOR A THIRD TERM, TO FORGE CLOSER TIES WITH ANWAR’S UNITY GOVT’
PM’s China visit to open new chapter in strategic ties, says Zambry
The foreign minister says Beijing aspires to forge a closer relationship with Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government.
BEIJING: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s three-day official visit to China from tomorrow is expected to open a new chapter in strengthening the strategic relationship between Putrajaya and Beijing in a more comprehensive way.
This is Anwar’s maiden visit to China since taking office last November.
Foreign minister Zambry Abd Kadir said the visit is historic and meaningful, since the prime minister had received an invitation from the Chinese government to visit the republic only four months after being sworn in.
This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Malaysia-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The two countries will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations next year.
“This clearly shows the aspirations of the Chinese government, especially President Xi Jinping, who has just been appointed as president for a third term, to forge closer ties with Anwar’s unity government,” Zambry told the media here late last night.
He pointed out that Anwar would also be one of the first world leaders to visit Beijing after Xi’s re-appointment earlier this month.
Anwar is expected to arrive here on Thursday evening after attending the Boao Annual Forum for Asia in Hainan. He will be met on arrival by China’s deputy foreign minister, Sun Weidong.
Zambry said Anwar is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on Xi on Friday, where discussions will focus on new steps that can be taken in various fields to boost and strengthen bilateral relations.
“They will also discuss concrete measures that can be taken in trade, political cooperation, prevention of corruption, and civilisational issues,” he said.
He said the two leaders will also exchange opinions on the direction of bilateral relations taking into account the increasingly challenging international scenario.
This will be followed by a meeting with the chairman of the National People’s Congress, Zhao Leji, where the discussion will focus on cooperation at the parliamentarian level of both countries.
On Saturday evening, Anwar will be accorded an official welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, which will be followed by a bilateral meeting.
“The discussion between the two leaders will focus on the fields of economy, trade and investment,” said Zambry.
In addition to deliberating concrete efforts to increase trade and closer relations between the two countries, he said, Anwar is expected to discuss issues of mutual interest during his meeting with the Chinese leaders, including international and regional geopolitical issues as well as security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
The prime minister is also scheduled to deliver a public lecture at Tsinghua University, which is one of the most distinguished universities in China, in addition to attending a roundtable meeting with high-profile investors and Chinese captains of industry.
Anwar is also scheduled to deliver a keynote address at a business forum which will be attended by nearly 1,000 participants from Malaysia and China.
Despite his jam-packed itinerary, he is also scheduled to attend a breaking of fast ceremony with Malaysians in China organised by the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce, which will also be attended by leaders of Muslim communities in China.
During the visit, at least 14 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) related to trade and agriculture will be signed between the two countries.
Apart from Zambry, the Malaysian delegates will comprise international trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz, transport minister Loke Siew Fook, local government development minister Nga Kor Ming, science, technology and innovation minister Chang Lih Kang, and tourism, arts and culture minister Tiong King Sing.
China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner since 2009. The value of trade between two countries in 2022 was RM487.13 billion, an increase of 15.6% compared to the previous year. It was 17.1% of Malaysia’s total global trade worth RM2.8 trillion. FMT
Singapore, Malaysia PMs to visit China, attend Boao Forum, ‘China-ASEAN ties to be reinforced for post-pandemic recovery’
As Europe is still suffering from the ongoing geo-political crisis and the US financial system is bringing increasing uncertainties and risks to Western economic recovery this year, the world is placing greater hope on China to drive the post-pandemic recovery in 2023 as China is the only major world economy that has resilience, potential and certainty, said experts.
Therefore, it’s very natural for world leaders, including the key ASEAN members as well as the major EU members like Spain and France, to be eager to visit China to reinforce ties and seek more possibilities for cooperation, and it’s impossible for Washington to stop them from engaging China or even force them to decouple with China, especially when the US economy is still messy, analysts noted.
According to Mao Ning, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023 and deliver a keynote speech at the forum’s invitation in Hainan on March 30.
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Cote d’Ivoire Patrick Achi and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva will attend the annual conference at the forum’s invitation.
At the invitation of Premier Li, prime ministers of Singapore, Malaysia and Spain will pay an official visits to China on the margins of the annual conference.
For China, 2023 is a “year of beginning,” experts said. Politically, the year is the first year after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and China has elected a new leadership team for its State Council, China’s cabinet. Economically, this year is the first year for China to ease its strict epidemic control policy and optimize its COVID-19 response, and China has announced its economic target and its focus to recover its economy, and many international economic organizations and institutions have made confident predictions on China’s economic growth this year.
Therefore, it’s very necessary for the heads of the governments from other countries to build up communication and working relations with the new Chinese premier as soon as possible, analysts said. This is important for China and them to better connect with each other, and to jointly connect with regional integration and work for the hope of recovery and development for long-term, experts noted.
China-ASEAN partnership
ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn has already started his official visit to China from March 24 to 29. During the visit, Kao will also attend the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with Kao on Monday.
Qin said at the meeting that China’s internal and external policies have high stability and continuity, and China’s efforts to realize the national rejuvenation based on the Chinese modernization will bring more stability to regional peace and tranquility, and provide stronger impetus to regional development and prosperity.
Kao said China is ASEAN’s good partner, and the ASEAN is willing to further strengthen cooperation with China in all fields, and to speed up the negotiation for the “Free Trade Zone 3.0” and to speed up negotiation on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, and to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability, to promote the common prosperity for the region.
Before Singapore and Malaysia, leaders of other ASEAN members like Vietnam, the Philippines and Cambodia, have paid frequent visits to China in the past few months, which shows how much they value relations with China, Ge Hongliang, director of the China-ASEAN Maritime Security Research Center at Guangxi University for Nationalities, told the Global Times on Monday.
For Southeast Asian countries, economic recovery in the post-epidemic era and the stability of regional geopolitics are their top concerns and core tasks at the moment, he said. “Cooperation with China clearly helps these issues move forward, so relations with China are particularly valued.”
Singapore is “the brain of the ASEAN,” said experts, so its attitude and stance to some extent reflects the strategic mindset of the region. Singapore always attaches great importance to China, as Lee is one of the foreign leaders that have paid the most visits to China. According to the CNA, this is Lee’s first official visit to China since the pandemic.
During Lee’s trip, the concept of multilateral cooperation and win-win cooperation is expected to be re-emphasized, Ge told the Global Times. “The two sides are likely to exchange views on the current situation in Asia and offer to strengthen cooperation in the economic field. Such cooperation will, to some extent, set an example for cooperation between China and other ASEAN countries.”
Lee told the China Central Television in an interview on Friday that the rest of the world needs to recognize that China of today is not what it was before, and accept that it now plays a bigger role on the global stage.
Singapore sees the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a way for China to contribute to the development of the region and integrate into a regional network of cooperation and interdependence, said the Singaporean Prime Minister.
“The region needs infrastructure, the infrastructure needs financing. China is capable of doing that – of building infrastructure, it can also help to provide the financing, it can also develop the trade and economic links with the countries in the region,” Lee said. The BRI provides a framework where this can be done.
Singapore could contribute to the initiative by being the place where projects are evaluated and financing is obtained. As a centre for arbitration and mediation, Singapore, with its many international law firms, can also be where countries on Belt and Road schemes arbitrate issues or find legal expertise, Lee said.
More united
When other countries increase their engagements with China or seek further cooperation with China, the US always gets anxious, and Washington just arrogantly asks other countries, including ASEAN members and many EU members, to join its containment against China and even force others to decouple with China, which means cutting off themselves with the biggest and most vibrant market of the world, said Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University.
But now, many leaders of the ASEAN and the EU are going to or have already arrived in China, and this is a strongest proof that the US is unable to stop other countries from connecting with China, especially when Washington brings no hope but only concerns to the development and security of the world, Li Haidong said.
China is the biggest trade partner to the ASEAN and also a major trade partner to many EU countries. Observers said they are looking forward to seeing what kind of new ideas will come out from the discussion between world leaders in the Boao Forum this year, and what and how China will further contribute to the global recovery and development, as well as world peace. GT
FREE MALAYSIA TODAY / GLOBAL TIMES
.