The Malaysian Chinese Association is committed to building a bridge with China Vice President: Will work with the Ambassador of New China to jointly promote the development of the Belt and Road Center

FX168 Financial News (Hong Kong) News from the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) welcomed the new Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing. MCA Vice President Chen Deqin also serves as the chairman of Mbrace. He said MCA will be committed to Build a bridge between Malaysia and China. He also emphasized that he will hold a meeting with Ouyang Yujing as soon as possible to discuss the route of cooperation, and whether it is political or at the grassroots level, he will continue to follow the route of signing a bilateral cooperation memorandum with the CCP in 2014.

            The new Chinese ambassador to Malaysia, Ouyang Yujing’s rich experience in maritime affairs has attracted the attention of Malaysian maritime researchers. Ngeow Chow Bing, director of the Chinese Society Research Center of the University of Malaya, pointed out that Ouyang Yujing has both land borders and maritime affairs. With rich experience, he will work in Malaysia under this background. It is foreseeable that he will want to integrate more with Malaysia in South China Sea affairs. It is also very possible to revitalize the bilateral maritime consultation mechanism reached between the two countries in 2019. Oh Ei Sun, a senior researcher at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said that another priority for Ouyang Yujing to Malaysia is to increase trade volume and ensure the smooth flow of the Belt and Road development plan.

           Chen Deqin said: “We warmly welcome Ouyang Yujing, who is newly appointed as the Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia. The MCA China Affairs Committee will arrange a meeting between Ouyang Yujing and MCA as soon as possible to discuss various cooperation routes between China and Malaysia. MCA is committed to building a bridge between China and Malaysia. Since MCA and the CCP signed a bilateral cooperation memorandum in 2014, to the launch of the world’s first Belt and Road Center in 2016, MCA is committed to becoming a bridge between the two countries. Politically, we are still at the grassroots level and we are all trying to maintain good relations.”

            He added: “Malaysia continues to conduct political and cultural exchanges with China, which has enabled the two countries to prosper together. We also thank Ouyang for guaranteeing that China and Malaysia will continue to be good neighbors, good friends, good partners, and good brothers. As experienced public relations Officials, Ouyang Yujing is bound to push the cooperation between the two countries in various fields to a higher level. I remain confident that China will continue to play an active role, especially in responding to the new crown epidemic and recovering the economy. We look forward to seeing Ouyang Yujing With the help of the company, we can continue to receive assistance from China.”

           Up to now, Malaysia is still a key country in the global infrastructure development plan, and currently ongoing projects include the US$11 billion East Coast Rail Link. Oh Ei Sun said: “China will continue to emphasize its economic relations with Southeast Asia, as well as matters that it considers to be key to maritime interests, such as the South China Sea dispute. Malaysia will continue to deal with South China Sea issues in a very low-key manner. , They have held the same position since the three governments. China and Malaysia even have a strong trade relationship. During the impact of the new crown epidemic, China was the main destination of Malaysian goods. In 2019, the export value was 34.85 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 14.2% of total exports from Southeast Asian countries.”

           China’s continued promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative to Malaysia was hindered. After three years of inaction, the state of Melaka, Malaysia, announced the termination of the US$10.5 billion port development project supported by Power China. The Malacca State Chief Minister’s Office stated in a statement that the developer was found to have failed to complete the project and submitted a notice of termination of the agreement to the company on November 16. The statement also stated that the Malacca port area project was called “Melaka Gateway”. Since the company was found to have failed to complete the project within the contract period, it submitted a notice of termination of the agreement to the company on November 16th. The artificial island is built on 609 acres of land for economic parks and tourist attractions. Benar News, an online news media affiliated to Radio Free Asia, subsequently asked questions via email and text messages, but the Office of the Chief Minister of the Malacca State refused to respond. Malaysian developers and Chinese embassy officials also did not reply.

           The Diplomat, an English-language magazine that specializes in news about the Asia-Pacific region, reported that the developer is a Malaysian registered company KAJ Development Sdn. Bhd.. They signed the Malacca Port Area Project Agreement on October 4, 2017. The end of the year is over. The then Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak (Najib Razak) also announced his support for the project before, noting that the project was supported by China Power Construction Corporation. KAJ has also signed a cooperation agreement with two other Chinese companies, Shenzhen Yantian Port Group Co., Ltd. and Rizhao Port Group Co., Ltd., to develop three other islands to create a portal. KAJ’s original plan was to build economic parks, hotels, luxury residences and various tourist attractions on artificial islands.

            Many large-scale Chinese investment projects fell through Najib’s defeat in the May 2018 general election. Najib also reported involvement in a corruption scandal involving Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund 1MDB (a Malaysian development company). Subsequently, the former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad took over. After taking office, he immediately suspended or renegotiated several Chinese investment projects, claiming that these projects were overpriced or brought unsustainable debt levels to Malaysia. After the election, it was even reported that the prices of some China-funded Belt and Road projects were exaggerated.

            Chen Deqin claimed: “The MCA China Affairs Committee and Mbrace will continue to make their own contributions to the Belt and Road Initiative that supports bilateral relations. We hope that with our joint efforts, we will have a brighter future.”

Source: FX168 Finance Network