Dr Mahathir Mohamad is expected to raise Putrajaya's position on free navigation within the South China Sea during a bilateral meeting in Beijing this week.
According to sources, the prime minister will reiterate that the South China Sea should remain open and free from any form of militarisation around shipping lanes.
Mahathir will be in Beijing to take part in the second Belt and Road forum, alongside 40 other heads of state, which includes all 10 heads of state from Asean. The last meeting was held in 2017.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang are scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Mahathir at the sidelines of the forum.
The South China Sea dispute is expected to be among the top agenda during the meeting.
Mahathir is also expected to express gratitude to the Chinese leaders for agreeing to Malaysia's request to have the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project tweaked to make it more affordable.
Mahathir's predecessor Najib Abdul Razak previously adopted a non-confrontational approach towards Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea.
China has converted several islands or maritime features into military bases, some of which host silos storing missiles intended to attack ships.
Since the 1980s, Malaysia has occupied several islands or maritime features in the region which China has claimed.
Members of Najib's administration have complained about incursions by Chinese vessels before, but other branches of the government denied that this happened.
Since coming to power last May, Mahathir consistently stated that the South China Sea should be free of warships and be patrolled by "small boats" meant to deal with "pirates" instead.
Although Mahathir never specifically fingered any particular country, it was clear he was referring to both the US and China who have an interest in shipping lanes within Malaysian waters.
Mahathir said his administration was satisfied with maintaining Malaysia's present hold on several islands in the disputed region, which is rich fishing grounds and may have possible oil and gas reserves. - Mkini
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