KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s prime minister begins an official visit to China on Tuesday where he will sign a “significant defence deal” in a potential strategic shift as his ties with the US fray over a corruption scandal.
The week-long trip by Najib Razak marks another potential blow for Washington’s “pivot” toward Asia, two weeks after President Rodrigo Duterte of longtime US ally the Philippines used a visit to China to say it was “time to say goodbye to America”.
Malaysia and China will be finalising the first significant defence deal between the two countries during his visit, Najib told Chinese state news agency Xinhua, giving no further details. A total of 10 agreements spanning business, defence and other spheres would be signed, Malaysia has said.
Najib said last week Malaysia and China were “committed to achieving new highs and entering into new areas of cooperation”. Last month in Beijing, Duterte stunned observers by announcing his country’s “separation” from the US.
Though he subsequently backed off, saying their alliance remained intact, the episode underlined China’s increasing diplomatic and economic gravitational pull at the expense of the US. Najib’s visit provided fresh evidence, said south-east Asia politics analyst Bridget Welsh.
“This is the new regional norm. Now China is implementing the power and the US is in retreat,” she said, adding Washington’s Asia pivot was “dead in the water”.
China welcomed Najib, who arrived Monday, with a state dinner on Tuesday night in Beijing, followed by a meeting with Premier Li Keqiang.
Later this week Najib will meet President Xi Jinping, as well as Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba. Taking office in 2009, Najib reached out to Washington, and relations warmed following decades of periodic distrust.
