Malaysian Foreign Minister Calls Chinese Counterpart 'Brother'
Malaysia's foreign minister called his Chinese counterpart "brother" and said the two sides had agreed to establish a joint dialogue mechanism on the East Sea.
China and Malaysia have agreed to set up a joint dialogue mechanism on the South China Sea, China's foreign minister said on September 12 after meeting his Malaysian counterpart.
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| Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) talks with his Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah during a press conference on September 12, 2019 in Beijing. Photo: Reuters |
China's deployment of its Navy in this strategic sea area - through which more than $3.4 trillion in goods are transported annually - has caused tension with countries and parties that have sovereignty disputes in the East Sea with Beijing.
Malaysia has been critical of China's stance on the South China Sea but has recently refrained from taking a strong stance on the issue, especially after China poured billions of dollars into infrastructure projects under its Belt and Road Initiative.
Malaysia regularly monitors Chinese coast guard and patrol vessels entering its waters, but China has "respected Malaysia and has not done anything to cause trouble for us so far," Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamad Sabu told Reuters last month.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also said: "Finally, China and Malaysia agreed to establish a bilateral communication mechanism on maritime issues to create a new platform for dialogue and cooperation between the two sides."
Mr. Abdullah, who called Mr. Wang Yi “my brother,” said the mechanism would be led by the two countries’ foreign ministries.
"Our officials will discuss the details, but I think this is an important outcome of today's meeting and also in the 45 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries," the Malaysian Foreign Minister affirmed.
China is Malaysia’s largest trading partner and the two countries also share strong cultural ties. In July 2019, China and Malaysia resumed construction of a railway project in northern Malaysia as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative after a one-year suspension and an agreement between the two countries to cut the cost by a third to about $11 billion./.