In a tweet, Hishammuddin said the phrase he used did not refer to Malaysia’s bilateral relations with Beijing.

Hishammuddin said he used it out of respect for Wang Yi, who is older and a more senior foreign minister.

“Hence, (he’s an) ‘elder brother’ to me personally. Being respectful does not signify weakness,” he said.

Strong ties, he added, were based on mutual trust and equality.

It was reported that Hishammuddin had told Wang that his Chinese counterpart would “always be my elder brother”. Wang agreed with him, saying “we are brothers”.

His two-day visit to China is at the invitation of Wang.

Hishammuddin’s tweet comes in the wake of criticisms over the use of the phrase, including by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who demanded that he apologise and retract his statement.

Hishammuddin went on to assure Malaysians that the nation remained “independent, principled and pragmatic” in terms of its foreign policy.