Malaysia’s Anwar underlines ‘serious’ bid to strengthen ties after meeting China’s Wang Yi
- Prime-minister-in-waiting makes first visit to China since political resurrection, turns to social media to reminisce about his previous ties
The meeting is out of the ordinary, considering Anwar does not yet hold any official position in the Pakatan Harapan [Coalition of Hope] government installed following the May 9 general election.
The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately release a statement on the meeting, but Anwar wrote on Twitter after the meeting that he and Wang “hoped to strengthen Malaysia-China ties with greater seriousness”.
Anwar’s meeting with Wang came at the tail end of a three-day visit to China that included a lecture at Renmin University and a meeting with Chen Yuan, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
On Twitter, Anwar wrote that he was pleased to meet Chen, a former head of the China Development Bank with whom he had dealings during his previous stint as finance minister in the 1990s.