China envoy brushes off drop in positive perception by Malays

 

China's ambassador to Malaysia, Ou Yang Yujing, chooses to adopt an optimistic outlook after a survey revealed that there was an overall growth in Malaysians' positive perception of China, but a decline among the Malay community.

This was in response to a Merdeka Centre survey that showed a breakdown revealing that the Malay community has experienced a decline in positive perception towards China compared to 2016.

“We should look at the general trend that the overall satisfaction of the people from the two countries towards each other is growing.

"China and Malaysia have been working together in different fields and perhaps everyone will have their own perceptions.

“However, the overall relationship between both governments and the general public of the two countries is positive and optimistic," said Ou Yang (above) when asked about the declining positive shift towards China among Malays.

The survey

According to the survey by Merdeka Center and Universiti Malaya's Institute of China Studies, adult Malaysians view China a bit more favourably in 2022 compared to 2016.

The survey, conducted in March, showed that 39 percent of 1,204 respondents viewed China favourably, up from 35 percent when a similar survey was conducted in July 2016.

However, this growth was not matched across the board.

This was because only 28 percent of Malays viewed China favourably, down from 33 percent in 2016. The positive shift was only apparent among Chinese Malaysians with 67 percent now viewing Communist-ruled China favourably.

Ou Yang also stressed that the friendship between Malaysia and China had a long history and that bilateral trade and investment had been growing especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Online communication between the two countries continued to develop despite offline cultural exchanges being temporarily affected.

"China and Malaysia had also cooperated in fighting the pandemic, for example, China provided a large amount of Covid vaccines to Malaysia.

"The two countries overcame the difficulties brought by the pandemic and the bilateral relations kept upgrading by working together,” added Ou Yang.

Possible issues

Among the number of issues that could be at play include the incursion of China's airforce into Malaysian territory.

Last year, Malaysia's Foreign Ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador after the Royal Malaysian Air Force detected a formation of 16 Chinese military aircraft “flying suspiciously” near Beting Patinggi Ali (Luconia Shoals).

China's handling of Hong Kong's independent media and pro-democracy protestors as well as continued tensions with Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province, are also factors.

It is also possible that the relatively unfavourable impression of China among Malays is believed to be related to the alleged oppression of the Uyghur Muslims in China's Xinjiang province.

Last month, Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim) launched a campaign to create awareness among Malaysians about what it described as the repression of Uyghur Muslims.

In a recent interview with Malaysiakini, Uyghur activist Omer Kanat said he continues to engage Muslim-majority governments, including Malaysia, to speak up against China's treatment of the Uyghurs.

Malaysia had, in September 2020, reiterated its stand to not extradite any Uyghur refugees even at China's request, citing Putrajaya's non-interference policy in the internal affairs of another country.

Beijing has denied the allegations of building ‘wartime concentration camps’ and human rights abuses against its Uyghur population, saying that it is carrying out counter-terrorism and combating religious extremism in the province.

Last Monday, UN Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet started her six-day trip to China, and Xinjiang would be one of her destinations. She became the UN’s top rights official visiting China in nearly two decades. - Mkini