KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Malaysia’s king on Wednesday (Apr 16) in a state visit analysts said was aimed at burnishing Beijing’s credentials as a reliable partner and “not a hegemon”.
Xi embarked this week on a Southeast Asia tour that has already taken him to Vietnam and will also include Cambodia, with Beijing trying to position itself as a stable alternative to US President Donald Trump’s punitive tariff regime.
Xi was welcomed by Malaysia’s king, Sultan Ibrahim, in a colourful ceremony on Wednesday at the golden-domed Istana palace.
The Chinese leader walked on a red carpet as he inspected an honour guard on the sprawling palace grounds, as a Malaysian royal band played.
After talks with the king, Xi is due to meet with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who will host him for dinner at the administrative capital of Putrajaya outside Kuala Lumpur.
Both leaders will witness the signing of a range of bilateral agreements, according to the Malaysian foreign ministry.
“It’s not just about friendship, it’s about realigning the regional centre of gravity towards Beijing,” said Khoo Ying Hooi, an associate professor in the Department of International and Strategic Studies at Malaya University.
She told AFP that the visit was a calculated move to “test the waters for regional solidarity at a time when US trade measures are disrupting global markets”.
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc have been among the hardest hit by the US tariffs, which risked alienating even Washington’s friends and allies.
Malaysia is this year’s ASEAN chair.
ASEAN member Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, was slapped with 46 per cent tariffs and Cambodia – a major producer of low-cost clothing for big Western brands – was hit with a 49 per cent duty.
Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy, was hit with a lower tariff of 24 per cent.
The tariffs have been paused for 90 days, but Trump has said no country is “off the hook”.