Response to Ukraine invasion will shape China’s regional agenda, says academic

An academic says the Russia-Ukraine conflict will influence the way China handles its disputes over territories with other countries. (AP pic)

PETALING JAYA: The Russia-Ukraine conflict will influence the way China handles its disputes over territories with other countries, especially in South East Asia, according to an expert in international relations.

James Dorsey, a senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said Beijing “will take cues” from the way the international community responds to the crisis in Eastern Europe.

“And this will basically shape its own policies as it moves forward,” he told FMT.

Apart from European Union nations, many others have also imposed sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. Singapore, for instance, has imposed “appropriate sanctions and restrictions”, while the United Kingdom said it would hit Russia with “very hard” sanctions.

James Dorsey.

Dorsey believes such a reaction “will ring loud and clear in China, whatever they decide to do with it.”

He said this when asked to comment on former foreign minister Anifah Aman’s claim that Malaysia could “very well be in the same shoes as Ukraine”.

Anifah made reference to “a superpower that constantly encroaches on our waters affecting lives and livelihoods”.

China has claimed a large swathe of the South China Sea, with published maps showing its borders extending close to Sabah and Sarawak. It’s craft have entered waters claimed by Malaysia on many occasions.

Dorsey went on to say that China was a coercive power that tried to impose its policies on others.

“And Beijing does it with a sense of brutality that may not even involve violence,” he said, citing Australia-China and Lithuania-China relations.

“We are dealing with a country that will do whatever it takes to force you into line.”

However, Dorsey does not believe that China is against Malaysia at the moment.

Former diplomat Dennis Ignatius agreed with Anifah and called on Putrajaya to emulate Singapore in imposing sanctions.

Ignatius, a 36-year veteran in the Malaysian foreign service, said Malaysia needed to show that “we will not accept or take lightly” an armed invasion of one country by another by taking a strong stand.

“This would also serve as a clear warning that we will not accept the takeover of our islands in the South China Sea.”

He said if Putrajaya felt that sanctions were “too much” it should at least speak out strongly against the invasion at the United Nations General Assembly that’s in session.- FMT