Opinion | Malaysia-China defence ties cool amid political changes and South China Sea tensions
- Malaysia’s defence cooperation with China reached a peak in 2017 under Najib Razak’s leadership, despite Malaysia being a South China Sea claimant
- But almost five years on, defence officials have cooled on the value of bilateral defence ties, amid Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the contested sea
In 2017, Malaysia and China’s defence relationship peaked after former prime minister Najib Razak renewed a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation during a trip to Beijing.
The October 2016 visit came months after a special arbitral tribunal ruled in favour of the Philippines in its dispute with Beijing over its South China Sea claims, and the Najib government seemed determined to not let the landmark case affect its pursuit of closer ties with China.
The efforts appeared to pay off – with many top-level exchanges, large-scale bilateral exercises, continued military academic exchanges, and even two submarine visits to the sensitive Sepanggar naval base in Kota Kinabalu taking place – despite Malaysia also being a claimant in the contested waterway.
But almost five years on, Malaysia’s defence establishment is becoming increasingly sceptical of the value of China-Malaysia defence ties, which have slowed in part due to changes in government, political instability, the coronavirus pandemic and Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
The start of cooling bilateral relations began in May 2018, when Mahathir Mohamad’s coalition removed the previous administration’s six-decade grip on power during the general election.