CGTN Europe spoke to Peter TC Chang, Former Deputy Director of the Institute of China Studies at the University of Malaya.
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00:00Peter TC Chang is the former deputy director of the Institute of China
00:04Studies at the University of Malaya. Thanks for coming on the program. So what
00:09makes Malaysia strategically important to China? Well Malaysia is to the ASEAN
00:16principle of centrality and ASEAN principle of neutrality and we have
00:22always maintained open free so foreign policy we will not take sides we will
00:29engage with all parties and China appreciate that China has been facing a
00:36lot of pressure from the United States and United States has tend to come to
00:42this part of the world to ask us to choose sides but we continue to
00:47maintain our open policy that we will engage with both the United States and
00:52China and for that reason I think China sees Malaysia in particular and ASEAN
00:58in general as a very strategic partner for itself and for the region. You
01:04mentioned ASEAN of course Malaysia is now a BRICS partner country and as the chair
01:10of talks in Washington Malaysia is that key player in ASEAN's response to the US
01:14tariffs I'm wondering are they now having to maybe you know pick sides are they
01:18out as Malaysia at a strategic crossroads. We will not be taking sides we will be
01:28taking our own sides we have decided to do it and see how to respond to the
01:33terrorists as you know the terrorists has been there's a lot of uncertainties
01:38right now it's been under a pause for 90 days we're not exactly sure what would
01:44happen after 90 days what Prime Minister Ano Ibrahim has stated is that ASEAN as a
01:49whole will want to coordinate our response we will have to meet and try to get
01:56together get our act together and try to find a way to respond collectively and we
02:02see China as strategic as well in helping us to cope with these uncertainties so
02:08right now as far as we are concerned we are not taking sides our sense of
02:13neutrality maintains it maintains the same and we will continue to engage with
02:19any parties that are willing to to trade with us according to the rules based
02:25order but this trip is quite important is it isn't it I mean where can we expect
02:31maybe closer cooperation and collaboration is it on big infrastructure
02:35projects as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative for example absolutely I mean
02:42the the Belt and Road Initiative actually Malaysia was a launchpad of the Belt and
02:46Road Initiative about 15 years ago it started off with as brick and mortars and
02:52infrastructures but over the over the years it has evolved it has evolved into a green
02:58BRI digital digital BRI and then help Silk Road and we have education BRI as well I think in
03:08this visit President Xi and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will probably focus a little bit
03:13more on the digital BRI as segment where AI and and semiconductor microchips will
03:21come will feature quite quite prominently in terms of the new sort of
03:28cooperations and new new deals that will be signed
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