Malaysia is simply deepening its hedging strategy, he said in an interview with World Politics Review (WPR).
“Kuala Lumpur is certainly forging closer economic, defence and security ties with China, but I don’t think it means forsaking relations with the United States.
“(Prime Minister) Najib (Razak) is expanding Kuala Lumpur’s diplomatic space for manoeuvre in the face of rising tensions between China and the US, especially in the South China Sea, with direct implications on Malaysia’s territorial interests.”
The senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore said this in answer to the question on whether the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal had led to a shift in Malaysia’s foreign policy towards China and away from the US, especially after the US Department of Justice seized assets allegedly linked to the state funds.
On economic and military ties between Malaysia and China, Yang Razali said the two nations have had economic ties for years, and that China had been Malaysia’s largest trading partner since 2009, and Malaysia China’s largest trading partner among Asean countries.
“Malaysia’s security, defence and military relations have always been pro-Western and tied to the United States’ security umbrella, while security ties with China have for a long time been largely nonexistent. This is a holdover from China’s past, which exported revolution to Southeast Asia, including Malaysia.
“There has, however, been a subtle, though noticeable, shift in Malaysia’s security and military relations with China, especially since Beijing made a strategic push to reach out to Asean, starting with the China-Asean free trade agreement that was signed in 2002.”
Yang Razali said although the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation in 2005, joint military exercises between Malaysian and Chinese forces only began after an official visit to Kuala Lumpur in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping, when the two countries agreed to upgrade ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
The turning point in defence ties was in May, when Najib’s office issued a statement saying that Malaysia was ready to discuss “further possibilities of military collaboration with China.”
Najib visited China in November, which ended with the signing of a series of deals worth US$34 billion (RM152 billion) that cover, among other areas, defence cooperation.
Yang Razali noted, too, that Malaysia was buying four Chinese naval vessels, the first major Malaysian purchase of Chinese military hardware. In the past, Malaysia has bought most of its military equipment from the US and Russia.
He said although ties were stronger these days, there was still the dispute over claims to parts of the South China Sea by both nations. Beijing’s increasingly aggressive behavior, including reported Chinese intrusions into Malaysian waters, had put Kuala Lumpur in a quandary, he said.