Ngeow Chow Bing

Director, Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya

Ngeow Chow-Bing is the director of the Institute of China Studies at the University of Malaya. His research interests include China’s political reforms, organisation and management of the Chinese Communist Party, and China-Southeast Asia relations. He was previously a special senior research fellow of China’s National Institute for Global Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2017-2020) and his articles have been published in peer-reviewed journals such as China Review, Journal of Contemporary China, Contemporary Southeast Asia, and China: An International Journal. He is also the editor/co-editor of Zhenghe Forum: Connecting China with the Muslim World (2016), Southeast Asia and China: Exercises in Mutual Socialization (2017), Rising China, Resilient Japan, Resourceful ASEAN: Selected Writings of Lee Poh Ping on East Asian International Relations (2018), and Researching China in Southeast Asia (2019).

 

Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's prime minister, speaks during an interview in Singapore, on 30 January 2023. (Ore Huiying/Bloomberg)

Anwar's China policy

While it is still unclear if the Anwar Ibrahim administration has a clear China policy in place, the general trajectory is a positive posture towards China. Even so, the relationship can be expanded and strengthened beyond economic numbers to channelling the benefits of cooperation to local SMEs, and broadening cooperation to areas where the prime minister has shown great personal interest, such as inter-civilisational dialogue.
People select lanterns for the Mid-Autumn Festival, Malacca, Malaysia, 4 September 2022. (Xinhua)

Upward trend of new Chinese migrants in Malaysia likely to continue

The current population size of new Chinese migrants in Malaysia is estimated to be 82,000. Although the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down the influx of these migrants, it is expected that the pause is temporary and the inflow will continue to increase in the long term. However, while latent anxiety about these migrants has emerged among Malaysians, it has not yet become an explosive issue in Malaysian politics.
Local residents ride past pro-Taiwan independence flags in Taipei, Taiwan, on 6 August 2022. (Sam Yeh/AFP)

The 'one China' policy of Southeast Asian countries

Academic Ngeow Chow Bing takes stock of the "one China" policy of Southeast Asian countries, noting changes in interpretations over the years and their subtle differences from China's "one China" principle and the US's "one China" policy. He warns that US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan has exacerbated cross-strait tensions and could further limit Taiwan's international space in Southeast Asia.
A general view of the city skyline in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2 February 2021. (Lim Huey Teng/File Photo/Reuters)

China’s divided image in Malaysia

In a recent poll conducted by Malaysia’s Merdeka Center and the Institute of China Studies at the University of Malaya, public perception of China seems to have improved slightly from the last time a similar survey was done in 2016. That said, opinions are divided among ethnic groups and hinge on a few deciding factors.