Malaysia New best friend visit with submarine

More China submarines will visit Malaysia

In response to international media fever about China’s first submarine visit to Malaysia last week, a China newspaper that is widely accepted as a ruling party mouthpiece has said: “The visit shows that the political trust between China and Malaysia has reached a new high.”

It said this was because “the docking place of the submarine, Kota Kinabalu, operates as an important naval base for the Royal Malaysian Navy, which faces the South China Sea.”

The paper, Global Times, added: “Following this visit, it is likely that Chinese submarines will continue to be docked in Malaysia, further promoting bilateral military cooperation.”

According to a New Delhi Television report, the presence of the submarine in Malaysia was of serious concern to the Indian Navy.

The Chinese Defence Ministry in a statement to The Wall Street Journal had said the submarine docked in Sabah for supplies and for its crew to rest after anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia.

But the Indians were worried that Chinese submarines were instead tracking their own submarines and ships in the Indian Ocean.

The Indian report said the Indian military didn’t buy the Chinese statement about piracy patrols, and said the Indian Navy pointed out that “advance military assets” like submarines weren’t “appropriate” for taking on Somali pirates who terrorise the seas in “small skiffs”.

In the US, The Wall Street Journal headlined its story on the visit this way: “Chinese Submarine’s Malaysian Port Call Signals Regional Power Shift”.

On Friday, Global Times seemed to agree somewhat. It said the visit of the submarine “reflects that military cooperation between the two countries will not be affected by the South China Sea disputes”.

It added: “This indicates that the bilateral cooperation has deepened, and the Sino-Malaysian cooperation has been at the forefront of the cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.”

It added: “Traditionally, Southeast Asian countries have relied on the US for security and China for economy. This situation will change in the future as more Southeast Asian countries have realised that China is a trustworthy partner in security.

“China can also, to some extent, shape the region’s peace and stability. China’s military power is a peaceful force, which will not threaten other countries.”

Global Times is known to quote or run articles by analysts and academics to further the point of view of China’s ruling communist party.

The Friday report was a comment from a senior fellow of the National Institute of International Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Xu Liping.

The report said the United States had failed to deliver security to Southeast Asia and so “more countries in the region will turn to China and Russia for security”.

FMT 15 Jan 2017