The dragon, the mousedeer, and the Belt and Road

 

When Parameswara refused to accept the hegemony of Majapahit some 600 years ago, he lost his kingdom.

Later, when he refused to pay allegiance to Ayutthaya, the other superpower in the region, he became a fugitive in his own land.

It was only later that Parameswara, inspired by a mousedeer that had intelligently outwitted his two hunting dogs, embraced the fact that in the political landscape of the time, he was but a mousedeer.

That was when Parameswara learnt there was no shame in showing deference to a superior force, provided his own self-esteem remained intact.

He did not hesitate to defer to the Ming dynasty of China when the opportunity presented itself. As a result, he not only regained all that he lost but amassed more than he ever had.

China, the sleeping dragon of the east, has awakened. Its “Belt and Road” initiative is designed to project dominance to the world.

As an intelligent “mousedeer” nation, we have no choice but to yield to it, lest the “dragon” take umbrage.

The only question we should ask ourselves is, what the terms of our acceptance should be.

The key issue here is self-respect.

If China requires us to yield to its initiative, we should take a leaf out of Parameswara’s book and ensure that we are not humiliated in the process. We should instead work to secure something appropriate and fitting in return.

China and Malaysia have a long relationship.

The first ruler of Melaka, Parameswara, was installed on his throne by the Ming emperor of China. That act saw him rise from being a nobody with nothing to the sovereign of the region.

Although China has had contact with the various kingdoms in our land for thousands of years, it has to date never imposed itself in the affairs of any one of them. Even the Melaka sultanate was something that the Chinese only officially recognised after a power vacuum developed in the region.

After the Mings installed Parameswara as Melaka’s sultan and established it as an official state in the region, it never once interfered in the internal affairs of Melaka. All it asked was for the state’s sultans to pay the Ming court a periodical visit once every few years.

Gift offerings made by the Melaka sultanate to the Ming court were reciprocated many times over. Even then, China did not seek deference from the sultans in a way that compromised the sultans’ need for self-respect.

Based on this tradition, we have every reason to believe that whatever favours and concessions we make to the Chinese today are bound to trigger Beijing into responding with favourable returns.

That Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has returned from China recently with “gifts” worth an astonishing RM170 billion which must be taken as a sign that the “dragon” has not forgotten its friendship with the “mousedeer”.

Following this gesture, it will indeed be auspicious for us to felicitate this gesture in the appropriate manner.

A lot has been said about the “Belt and Road” initiative.

Critics say it is simply a programme by China to lure unsuspecting nations into a debt trap.

Rather than focus on the validity of these allegations, the more appropriate thing for us to do is focus on our relationship with China instead.

China’s “Belt and Road” initiative involves 145 countries. We cannot expect China to have the same relationship with all 145 countries any more than we can expect to have the same relationship with 145 different friends.

Even if some countries that are involved with China end up being indebted to it, that does not have to be our fate. At the end of the day, a lot will depend on the type of relationship that we develop with China.

In 2018, our relationship with China turned sour after our then leader, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, cast aspersions on the initiative in a way that deeply offended Beijing.

It appears that Anwar might have done enough to rectify any damage done during his visit to Beijing last week. Hopefully, the future will continue on the same note.

Yet, as much as we value our relationship with China, we must remember that as a superpower, China has its own relationships with other nations, including rival superpowers.

Those relationships may from time to time give rise to problems. We must take care to ensure that we are not drawn into those disputes.

Our government and leaders must ensure that we maintain a balanced relationship with China and other world superpowers so that Malaysia does not find itself trampled on when two giants spar with one another.

Malaysians take great pride in being a force for world peace and harmony. We are well suited to being a neutral and peaceful nation.

Our government and leaders must use their wisdom, wit and cunning to keep our “mousedeer” nation peaceful, neutral, harmonious and friendly with all nations at all times. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.