Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Malaysia’s king, Sultan Ibrahim, on Wednesday during a tour of Southeast Asia coming in the wake of the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs.
Later on Wednesday, Xi will hold talks with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at a state dinner at the administrative capital of Putrajaya outside Kuala Lumpur.
The Malaysian Foreign Ministry said both leaders will sign multiple bilateral agreements.
On Monday, Xi met with To Lam, Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary and Vietnam’s President Luong Cuong.
China and Vietnam signed multiple agreements on cooperation in supply chains and a joint railway project. Xi also promised higher access for Vietnamese agricultural exports to China.
“As beneficiaries of economic globalization, both China and Vietnam should strengthen strategic resolve, jointly oppose unilateral bullying acts, uphold the global free trade system, and keep global industrial and supply chains stable,” said Xi, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
US President Donald Trump described China and Vietnam’s meeting as an attempt “to figure out how do we screw the United States of America.”
In Malaysia, Xi is expected to discuss a free trade agreement between China and the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Vietnam and Cambodia are members, and Malaysia is this year’s ASEAN chair.
Oh Ei Sun from the Pacific Research Center of Malaysia think tank told the Associated Press that Xi’s Southeast Asia tour was like “a group of friends huddling together for warmth against harsh weather”.
But China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea are a point of concern with both Vietnam and Malaysia. Malaysian PM Ibrahim stated last year in September that Malaysia will not bow to China’s demands for stopping its oil and gas exploration in the region. – DW.
