All routes lead to China

 

After a US$1 trillion investment, the e has evolved into a global infrastructure and economic strategy involving more than 150 countries.

Two months ago, China inaugurated a new train service that adopts a sea-road-rail intermodal approach, reducing the transit time to about 18 days for about 4,300km – more than a 50% increase in efficiency – and notably avoids passing through the Strait of Malacca.

Its full name, the “Zheng He” Sea-road-rail International Multimodal Transport Service, departs from Kunming, carrying 26 containers of Yunnan specialities, including vegetables, fertilisers and animal feed. It then traverses the China-laos Railway to Vientiane, Laos, and then divides into three routes to complete the transportation.

Route one transfers to the Thai railway network to reach Changwat Saraburi in Thailand, route two connects to road transport to Laem Chabang Port in Thailand, followed by sea freight to Singapore.

And route three connects to road transport to Ranong Port in Thailand, then by sea to Yangon Port in Myanmar, and thence by sea to Chittagong Port in Bangladesh.

Named after the renowned navigator Zheng He, a favourite son of Kunming, this amazing feat of engineering has opened up goods from the mainland and Yunnan specifically to new markets, saving costs and resources.

One of these new markets could potentially be Malaysia.

With China being Asean’s largest trading partner, Malaysia’s geographical position makes it a crucial node for the Maritime Silk Road, with its ports and infrastructure playing a pivotal role in regional connectivity and trade.

A key BRI initiative is the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), a massive infrastructure project connecting the east and west coasts of the peninsula with 20 stations along its route.

Construction work for the 665km railway project has reached 86% completion as of July, despite several hiccups and challenges throughout its development and implementation phases. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

Aimed at improving connectivity and stimulating economic development, the project traversing Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Selangor is set to be an economic game changer, especially in boosting Malaysia’s transportation network.

Travel time between Kota Baru and the Klang Valley is anticipated to be around four hours, compared to seven hours or more by road during festive seasons.

In March, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the ECRL will serve as a catalyst for socioeconomic growth and is expected to increase the country’s GDP by 3.78% by 2047. - 

In April, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority said the ECRL is anticipated to generate RM1.4 trillion for Malaysia’s economy by 2047 with a focus on industrial parks, logistics hubs and transit-oriented developments.

The numbers quoted are impressive, but for the ECRL to truly be effective, there must be a further rail connection with the Thai rail network.

There has been talk of extending the ECRL from Kota Baru to the Sungai Golok border in Thailand to create a seamless connection. This in turn can ensure a transfer of goods from Yunnan and vice versa.

While talks are ongoing between the Thai and Malaysian governments, there are obstacles in the way. Flood risks in the low lying Rantau Panjang stretch is a worry, as is track compatibility because the ECRL uses a standard gauge (1.435m wide), while the State Railway of Thailand uses a 1m gauge.

Technical issues aside, there is political consensus to see the connection happen and it would stimulate trade between the two countries.

As the BRI evolves, it is prompting discussion and debate as to its optimal scale, design, benefits and impact. What cannot be denied is that this initiative continues to be a significant geopolitical force, with its influence on regional and global development being recognised worldwide.

This is no longer a speculative blueprint; it is the largest modern infrastructure initiative in human history. - by ),Brian Martin,

The evolution of Malaysian foreign policy

Kuala Lumpur once prized non-alignment above all else – now it sees Beijing as more reliable than lectures from the West.- Murni Abdul Hamid

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during a parade for Malaysian Independence Day celebrations last month in Putrajaya, Malaysia (Syaiful Redzuan/Anadolu via Getty Images

Malaysia’s approach in navigating great power rivalry since the Cold War has largely been based on the principles of non-alignment, neutralism, and equidistance. However, two contrasting snapshots of the country’s Independence (Merdeka) Day celebration – half a century apart – offer an interesting perspective on whether Malaysia’s contemporary position has shifted away from these principles.

On 31 August 1973, Malaysia’s second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, hastily left the joyous Merdeka celebration midway to depart for Algiers and lead the Malaysian delegation to the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) Summit. It was his first time attending the summit. It had taken several attempts for Malaysia to become a NAM member, largely due to Indonesia’s opposition and influence within the Afro-Asian group during the Konfrontasi period. Malaysia’s experience of Konfrontasi and the retreat of the British from the region pushed the country to seek friends among other newly independent states.

When Malaysia finally became a NAM member in 1970, its foreign policy gradually shifted away from heavy reliance on the United Kingdom toward a more neutral and non-aligned stance. Against this background, Tun Razak strongly felt the need for Malaysia to be represented at the highest level in Algiers to signify the country’s commitment to non-alignment – even if it meant leaving the Merdeka celebration halfway.

Malaysia’s second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak (Bettmann/Getty Images)

Jump forward just over 50 years to 31 August 2025, Malaysia’s tenth Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, left at the conclusion of the nation’s Merdeka celebration to immediately depart for China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit. It was the first time Malaysia had participated in the SCO, in which Malaysia is neither a member nor an observer. It was also the first time a Malaysian leader attended China’s “Victory Parade” in Beijing, which this year took place a few days later, to commemorate the end of the Second World War, alongside other leaders including from Russia, North Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Iran.

Since becoming Prime Minister in late 2022, Anwar has visited China four times, with China’s President and Premier reciprocating accordingly (also a total of four times if including the upcoming ASEAN Summit and other meetings next month).

While China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner since 2009, relations with China have further intensified in recent years both bilaterally and multilaterally. These include Malaysia’s active involvement in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and participation in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP). Stronger ties also extend to decisions to allow Chinese companies to develop the country’s second 5G network and to revitalise Malaysia’s national car industry, the recent acceptance of China’s vision of building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind, and the landmark creation of a bilateral mechanism with China to discuss maritime issues. Malaysia’s decision to join BRICS, and the initiative to bring in China into the ASEAN-GCC platform by hosting the first-ever ASEAN-GCC-China Summit in Kuala Lumpur, also illustrate the depth of relations.

The actions of the great powers leave little room for Malaysia to manoeuvre, and siding with the more predictable and reliable power seems to be the less risky option.

While Malaysia’s intensification of cooperation with China should not be viewed as a zero-sum game, it is hard to ignore that this occurred against the backdrop of deteriorating relations with the United States. From the perspective of Malaysian leaders, the more benign power and trusted partner today is not the United States, but China. This, in spite of several challenges, particularly in the South China Sea.

In Anwar’s speech during President Xi Jinping’s visit to Malaysia earlier this year, he praised China as a rational, steady, and reliable partner amid the turbulence of “economic tribalism” and threats to multilateralism and the rules-based order. Last year, when Anwar spoke off-the-cuff at a business luncheon in honour of Premier Li Qiang in Kuala Lumpur, he commended the attitude of the Chinese leadership as “friendly, courteous, full of respect, [and] understanding of cultures and differences”, in contrast to the “narrative from the others” and the “barrage of questions” from others – especially “the western” – on whether Malaysia’s close relations with China would be in Malaysia’s best interest.

Understandably, as an independent nation, no country appreciates being told who it should be friends with, especially when those doing the lecturing neither act as they preach nor have been reliable friends in the first place.

While closer relations with the United States would still serve Malaysia’s interests – particularly in the realms of the economy and defence – they are proving even more elusive under President Donald Trump. His arbitrary tariff impositions, aggressive rhetoric (even against allies), withdrawals from multilateral organisations, disregard for the rule of law, undermining of the global order, and coddling of Israel have been obstacles for Malaysian leaders in promoting closer ties with the United States. Domestically, various opinion polls in recent years have shown a steady decline in Malaysians’ favourable perceptions towards the United States, while favourable views of China and even Russia have increased significantly.

If the above trend persists, Malaysia might find itself moving even further away from its non-aligned, neutral, and equidistant stances that served it well in the past. At present, however, the actions of the great powers leave little room for Malaysia to manoeuvre, and siding with the more predictable and reliable power seems to be the less risky option.

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SCO pushing past US dominance

 A grand gathering to mark the 80th annivers 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, China's V-Day gathering to start at 9 a.m., Sept 3 at Tian'anmen Square militaryary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, which includes a military parade, will start at 9 a.m. on Sept. 3 at Tian'anmen Square in Beijing.

President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will deliver a speech at the gathering and review troops.

At 8 p.m. of the same day, a commemorative gala will kick off at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi will also attend the event.

The commemorations will be broadcast live by China Media Group and on Xinhuanet. 

 Repated posts: Official media reveals specific arrangements for China's upcoming V-Day military 

Official media reveals specific arrangements for China's upcoming V-Day military parade

 

Rehearsal footage released by China Central Television (CCTV) of the upcoming V-Day military parade. Photo: screenshot of CCTV

 parade Rehearsal footage released by China Central Television (CCTV) of the upcoming V-Day military parade. Photo: screenshot of CCTV

Global power converge in Tianjin: SCO summit

 China hosts a star-studded summit to showcase its glowing influence

In this photo provided by Indian Prime Minister's Office, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, hold a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Indian Prime Minister's Office via  AFP  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfDuPX3p9Y0

President Xi Jinping gathered the leaders of Russia and India among dignitaries from around 20 Eurasian countries for a showpiece summit aimed at putting China front and centre of regional relations.

Security was tight in the northern port city of Tianjin, where the Shanghai Cooperation Organi­sation (SCO) summit is being held until today, days before a massive military parade in the capital Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II.

The SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus – with 16 more countries affiliated as observers or “dialogue partners”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin touched down in Tianjin yesterday with an entourage of senior politicians and business representatives. 

Meanwhile, Xi held a flurry of bilateral meetings with leaders from the Maldives, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and one of Putin’s staunch allies, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

He also met India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Xinhua news agency reported.

China and Russia have sometimes touted the SCO as an alternative to the Nato military alliance. This year’s summit is the first since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

In an interview published by Xinhua on Saturday, Putin said the summit will “strengthen the SCO’s capacity to respond to contemporary challenges and threats, and consolidate solidarity across the shared Eurasian space”.

“All this will help shape a fairer multipolar world order,” Putin said.

As China’s claim over Taiwan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have seen them clash with the United States and Europe, experts say that Beijing and Moscow are eager to use platforms such as the SCO to curry favour.

“China has long sought to present the SCO as a non-Western-led power bloc that promotes a new type of international relations, which, it claims, is more democratic,” said Dylan Loh, an assistant professor at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.

More than 20 leaders including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan are attending the bloc’s largest meeting since its founding in 2001.

“The large-scale participation indicates China’s growing influence and the SCO’s appeal as a platform for non-Western countries,” Loh added.

Beijing, through the SCO, will try to “project influence and signal that Eurasia has its own institutions and rules of the game”, said Lizzi Lee from the Asia Society Policy Institute.

“It is framed as something different, built around sovereignty, non-interference, and multipolarity, which the Chinese tout as a model,” Lee said.

Putin needs “all the benefits of SCO as a player on the world stage”, said Lim Tai Wei, a professor and East Asia expert at Japan’s Soka University. — AFP

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The SCO has not only inherited and advanced the multilateral framework represented by the UN but has also innovated and reshaped its concepts and pathways under new circumstances. The SCO has become both a staunch defender and a benchmark practitioner of multilateralism at a time when this principle of international engagement is under severe erosion worldwide.

Anwar in China for SCO Summit as four-day visit begins

The Star

https://www.thestar.com.my › nation › 2025/09/01 › an...

14 hours ago — The aircraft carrying the Prime Minister and his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail landed at the Tianjin Binhai International Airport.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit

 

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 professor and East Asia expert at Japan’s Soka University. — AFP