Friday was a busy day at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing as China’s top leader met with the leaders of Spain, Malaysia, and Singapore to strengthen bilateral ties and exchange ideas on issues of concern.
According to experts, these meetings between top leaders after the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference will give the region and the world a boost in the face of a worsening geopolitical crisis.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong all met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday in Beijing.
The leaders pledged to respect the key tenets of ASEAN and reject the Cold War mentality and bloc hostility throughout the talks, particularly with two foreign guests from ASEAN.
They also highlighted the need of multilateralism and deepening cooperation to advance regional and global development.
This strong momentum demonstrates that China and ASEAN’s cooperation won’t be impacted by US-led decoupling efforts because their cooperation is rooted in their shared fundamental interests, according to experts.
During Anwar’s visit, China and Malaysia came to an agreement to work together to create a society with a shared destiny. This will undoubtedly usher in a new era in the history of bilateral relations, according to Xi.
He urged both parties to work together to advance the next stage of bilateral relations and cooperation in many different areas, push for steady and sustained growth of China-Malaysia relations, and give the prosperity and development of the two nations as well as the region as a whole new impetus.
Xi called on the two sides to continue to increase the level of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, advance key projects, foster growth areas in the digital economy, green development, and new energy, and explore cooperation on people’s livelihoods so that China-Malaysia relations will bring more benefit.
Xi said China’s unwavering pursuit of high-standard opening-up and Chinese modernization will bring new opportunities for the development of Malaysia and other countries.
The Chinese President further emphasised that China rejects the Cold War attitude and camp hostility and is eager to work with Malaysia to uphold the fundamental tenets of ASEAN.
Anwar asserted that the policies outlined in the China-proposed Global Security Initiative (GSI), Global Development Initiative (GDI), and Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) are similar to Malaysia Madani, a framework for public policy that emphasises sustainable development and good governance.
He acknowledged China’s defence of mosques and respect for the right to practise one’s religion freely and declared Malaysia open to a more in-depth discussion of civilisation.
Recently, China effectively mediated the Iran-Saudi Arabia dialogue in Beijing, demonstrating that it is actively fostering peace. Malaysia rejects bloc conflict and being forced to “pick sides,” according to Anwar.
The benefits of regional peace and development must be protected, and hegemony and dissociation must be vehemently rejected, according to Xi and Lee during their meeting.
According to Xi, China accords Singapore diplomatic importance in its neighbourhood diplomacy. He said that during Lee’s visit, the two countries improved their bilateral ties and established a comprehensive, high-caliber collaboration that is focused on the future.
The Chinese President stated that China is prepared to improve strategic communication with the Singaporean side, deepen strategic alignment, and make “high quality” the most distinctive aspect of China-Singapore cooperation.
Asian nations should cherish and maintain the hard-won sound momentum of development in the region, jointly safeguard the peace dividend of the region, maintain the right direction of economic globalisation and regional economic integration.
And vehemently oppose bullying, decoupling, or severing the supply and industrial chains in light of the world’s accelerating changes at a rate unseen in a century, according to Xi.
No nation should be able to deny Asian citizens the opportunity to pursue a better and happier life, Xi added.
Lee asserted that he had complete faith in the Chinese economy’s resiliency and expectation of continued growth. According to him, neighbouring nations, including Singapore, are eager to further develop their commercial ties with China.
Additionally, he emphasised that even in situations where there is competition, it must be built on mutual respect and trust and that no one should be forced to take a side.
The visits of the leaders of the major ASEAN members sent a clear message that China and ASEAN members will resist those calls and will expand cooperation, serving as an example for globalisation and regional integration.
The US has been stepping up efforts to entice ASEAN members to decouple from China by proposing the Indo-Pacific economic framework and boosting military alliance in the region to counter China.
Long-term collaboration between China and ASEAN won’t be hindered by certain negative consequences of US-led unilateral and hegemonic actions because it serves both sides’ core interests, experts said.
One of the first regions to support the GSI and GDI, as well as join the China-proposed BRI, was Southeast Asia.
According to Xu Liping, director of the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, this cooperation won’t be impacted by any one country because the two sides have benefited from it greatly. For instance, during the COVID epidemic, trade between China and ASEAN significantly increased.
The long-term collaboration between China and ASEAN is also fueled by the two sides’ highly complementary economic structures, according to Xu. “The US-led moves could have some negative effects in the short term, but they won’t disrupt China-ASEAN cooperation,” he added.
Regarding cooperation between China and Singapore, experts said that the two countries are now going beyond the traditional financial, telecommunications, transportation, and real estate sectors to include biotechnology, pharmaceutical manufacturing, green development, and scientific research and development.
Singapore may be a very beneficial partner for China as a key nation along the BRI. According to Liang Haiming, dean of the Hainan University Belt and Road Research Institute, “I am convinced that there will be new highlights in future investment cooperation in digital economy, healthcare, biotechnology, green development, and new energy.
