Urliapov Vyacheslav

The current stage of Malaysia-China relations

ЮГО-ВОСТОЧНАЯ АЗИЯ: АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗВИТИЯ, 2014, №22, 62-66

 
Annotation: Malaysia’s leaders still believe that developing friendly relations with China is necessary to maintain political stability and to boost economic development of the country, while Beijing do not pose a direct threat to Malaysia’ security interests. The government develops pragmatic cooperation with China while simultaneously maintaining key security and economic links with the US and boosting ASEAN unity in preparation for any threatening scenarios in future. Though Malaysian political and defense establishment is concerned with the developments in the South China Sea, Putrajaya avoids direct confrontation with China having made a choice in favor of soft diplomacy and upgrading its naval and air capacity.

Keywords: MALAYSIA, CHINA, SOUTH CHINA SEA