Thomas Benjamin Daniel, a senior analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), said it was unlikely to put Malaysia on a collision course with Beijing.
In the past week or so, Putrajaya axed the animated movie Abominable after the film’s producers refused an order to cut a scene depicting a map of China, which included the contentious nine-dash line over the South China Sea (SCS).
Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah had also spoken on the need for Malaysia to boost naval capabilities in the event of conflict in the increasingly militarised region, while the home ministry slapped a ban on a comic book about China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
It said the comic book, titled “Belt and Road Initiative for Win Winism”, promoted socialist and communist ideologies, which Beijing subscribes to.
Daniel said there was no legal basis for the nine-dash line despite China’s insistance and wide use of the map in children’s books, globes and passports.
“Beijing has also been exerting influence on depictions of China’s map by foreign entities who are seeking to access Chinese market, and in some cases, depictions of these maps outside China as well,” he said.
While foreign companies were now starting to carry this tune for financial interests, he said it was right for Malaysia and other claimant states to reject China’s false depiction of its borders.
Daniel, who is with ISIS’ Foreign Policy and Security Studies Programme, said the ban on the book was unlikely to affect ties as it was a domestic issue rather than bilateral one.
He said there was nothing confrontational about Saifuddin’s remarks on boosting naval capacity as while the government would always opt for diplomacy, the reality was that it needed to be supported by a strong naval presence.
“Politically, China knows how to play the game in distancing themselves from whatever happens here. So, any real tension will come from the SCS issue, but even then, only if China escalates (its presence there) rather than political developments in Malaysia,” he said.
Meanwhile, other academics also said it was unlikely that the recent events would lead to Sino-Malaysia ties being damaged.
Universiti Malaya’s Ngeow Chow Bing said Putrajaya was still careful in handling the South China Sea issue to avoid hurting bilateral ties despite signalling that the country was determined to protect its interests.
“On boosting capabilities, that’s always a necessity. There is a lot Vietnamese illegal fishing also, so the added capabilities are not entirely about China,” Ngeow said.
William Case, head of University of Nottingham Malaysia’s School of Politics, History and International Relations, said the country’s need for investments from China meant a collision course was unlikely.
“But there are clearly tensions, even contradictions, in the relationship that will create episodic strains. These can be exacerbated too by the inconsistencies in policy positions displayed by an inexperienced Malaysian government,” he said,
Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Oh Ei Sun also ruled out a collision nor any effect on relations, especially on the economic front.