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China's rise is assured in our new world order, but not as a hegemony
China Won't Match U.S. as Military Power, Malaysia's Najib Says
By Rosalind Mathieson and Shamim Adam
April 26, 2018, 6:06 AM EDT
Malaysia seeks close ties with both China, U.S., says Najib
Prime minister says he has ‘personal relationship’ with Trump
China will become the dominant economic power in Asia in the near term but will not displace the U.S. militarily, according to Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak.
In an hour-long interview with Bloomberg on April 24, his first one-on-one with international media in more than three years, Najib spoke warmly of Malaysia’s relationship with both China and the U.S. He also stressed the need for the major powers to act in a "constructive” way in the region and avoid a potential Thucydides trap, named after the Greek historian who warned of war when an emerging power challenges a mature one.
“We don’t want a so-called rising power and an old power to be at odds with one another,” Najib said. “China will be the biggest economy, certainly, that’s a fact. But China will not be able to match the United States in terms of being the military superpower as such.”
Read more: Najib Predicts Better Win After 2013 Vote Scare, 1MDB ‘Mistakes’
Najib, 64, who expects his ruling coalition to return to power in a May 9 election, leads a country that sits along a key global trading route through the Malacca Strait into the disputed South China Sea. As a smaller nation, it risks getting caught in the middle as China expands its economic and military clout in Southeast Asia, a region the U.S. has dominated for decades.
“The rise of China is inevitable, you know, whatever you say, you can’t stop it,” Najib said of his country’s biggest trading partner. “It’s a big market and we can do a lot of things with China, provided that China doesn’t use its size of economy and embark on policies that would be hurting us,” he said. “I know it’s a cliche to talk peaceful rise but we believe there’s no reasons for us to doubt that will happen.”
Since coming to office, President Donald Trump has spurred doubt over the future of the U.S. commitment to the region, leading to concerns that China may rise at an accelerated pace. He withdrew from a blockbuster Pacific trade pact that many Asian nations saw as a hallmark of the U.S.’s staying power, and now remaining members such as Malaysia say they don’t want to renegotiate the deal to accommodate a potential U.S. return.
Trump’s ambiguous approach toward U.S. partners has persisted even after the Pentagon warned the U.S. must prepare to wage a great power competition with China and Russia as those nations seek to “co-opt or replace the free and open order that has enabled global security and prosperity since World War II.” Chinese leaders have repeatedly sought to reassure smaller countries, saying they don’t seek hegemony in the region.
Najib Razak with President Trump in Washington in Sept. 2017.
Najib knew Trump before he reached his current levels of fame. As well as meeting in person and speaking on the phone, they’ve played golf together.
“I have a good, warm, I mean a personal relationship with President Donald Trump,” Najib said.
“He’s not bothered about things that don’t matter to him, in a sense,” he added. “I think the two important things that matter to him would be, you know, how to make the United States great and create more jobs. Number two, how to make the United States safe.”
Despite Malaysia’s disappointment with Trump over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, it also faces differences with China. That’s even as economic ties increase, with Malaysia increasingly a part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road infrastructure program. China was the country’s top source of foreign direct investment last year.
South China Sea
China and Malaysia have competing claims to parts of the South China Sea, a key waterway for trade, fishing and -- increasingly -- militaries. China asserts ownership of more than 80 percent of the waters, and has built runways and other installations supportive of a military presence on reclaimed reefs.
Admiral Philip Davidson, who was nominated as commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, said in written testimony to Congress this month that Beijing had largely completed building forward bases in the South China Sea.
“Once occupied, China will be able to extend its influence thousands of miles to the south and project power deep into Oceania,” he said. “In short, China is now capable of controlling the South China Sea in all scenarios short of war with the United States.”
Najib said he was hopeful China would respect the views of other claimants. He expressed caution when asked if he would consider joint exploration with China of oil and gas resources in the area, saying it could be seen as tacit acceptance of another nation’s claims.
“We have been trying to tell the Chinese government that it should not be a militarized South China Sea, and whatever it is, it should be done on peaceful negotiations and in accordance with international law,” he said. “They do have three man-made islands, atolls that have become major islands but they have not really been fully deployed as military bases so to speak, but they do have some assets.”
Malaysian opposition leader Mahathir Mohamad said in a recent interview that if he wins the election he will restart negotiations on rights and access to the South China Sea while ensuring “friendly” relations with all countries. He also said that Chinese companies currently don’t employ locals or bring in capital and technology to Malaysia.
“Lots of people don’t like Chinese investments,” Mahathir said. “We want to defend the rights of Malaysians. We don’t want to sell chunks of this country to foreign companies who will develop whole towns.”
Mahathir’s comments reflect broader concerns about Chinese investment across Asia that have stoked political tensions from Australia to Sri Lanka. While many countries are eager to benefit from Xi’s largess, they are also wary of becoming too dependent on China.
Najib said the government had written guarantees into Belt and Road contracts to protect local workers. “For example a lot of the infrastructure work will be done by Malaysian companies and they are to employ Malaysian people to work on that project,” he said.
While he said Belt and Road projects would increase China’s influence in the region, he maintained that Malaysia and other Southeast Asian states could manage the issue and refuted any suggestion the projects came with strings attached.
China is “more obsessed” with economic growth than military expansion, Najib said. “I don’t think China will risk any irresponsible action that will undermine its rise to become the largest economy in the world.”
— With assistance by Yudith Ho
馬來西亞總理：中國的崛起不可避免，你無法阻止它
2018年04月30日 來源：參考消息
http://news.ifeng.com/a/20180430/58003491_0.shtml
美媒稱，馬來西亞總理納吉布稱，中國不久將成為在亞洲占支配地位的經濟強國，但在軍事上不會取代美國。
據彭博社網站4月26日報道，納吉布在采訪中熱情談論了馬來西亞同中國和美國的關係。他還強調，大國需要在該地區以“富有建設性的”方式行事，避免潛在的“修昔底德陷阱”。
▲納吉布
納吉布說：“我們不希望所謂的正在崛起的大國與老牌大國發生衝突。中國將是最大的經濟體，毫無疑問，這是事實。但在成為軍事超級大國方麵，中國將無法與美國相比。”
報道稱，現年64歲的納吉布期待自己的執政聯盟在5月9日的選舉中繼續掌權，他所領導的國家緊鄰一條通過馬六甲海峽進入有爭議的南海的關鍵全球貿易通道。美國數十年來一直在東南亞占據主導地位，但隨著中國在該地區擴大自身影響力，作為一個小國的馬來西亞麵臨被夾在中間的風險。
▲資料圖片：當地時間2018年2月13日，2018金色眼鏡蛇多國聯合軍演正式開幕，參加聯合軍演的國家有泰國、美國、日本、韓國、印尼、新加坡、馬來西亞等。
納吉布在談到馬來西亞最大的貿易夥伴時說：“中國的崛起不可避免，你知道，不管你說什麽，你都無法阻止它。”他說：“它是一個大市場，我們可以與中國做很多事情。我知道，談論和平崛起是陳詞濫調，但我們認為，我們沒有理由懷疑它會發生。”
報道稱，納吉布在獲得如今的名望之前就結識了特朗普。除了會麵和通電話外，他們還一起打過高爾夫。
納吉布說：“我與唐納德·特朗普總統有不錯的、友好的私人關係。”
他還說：“從某種意義上說，他並不擔心對他無關緊要的事情。”他說：“我認為，對他來說非常重要的兩個問題是如何讓美國變得偉大並創造更多就業，以及如何讓美國安全。”
報道稱，馬來西亞因為《跨太平洋夥伴關係協定》而對特朗普感到失望，與此同時，馬來西亞與中國的經濟聯係增加，馬來西亞日益成為“一帶一路”倡議的組成部分。中國去年是馬來西亞最大的外國直接投資來源國。
▲圖為中馬合建的馬來西亞東海岸鐵路項目模型
雖然納吉布說“一帶一路”倡議將提升中國在該地區的影響力，但他堅持認為，馬來西亞和其他東南亞國家可以應對這個問題，並駁斥了有關該倡議帶有附加條件的說法。
納吉布說，中國更關注經濟增長而非軍事擴張。他說：“我認為，中國不會冒險采取任何將影響其崛起成為世界第一大經濟體的不負責任的行動。”
馬來西亞日益成為“一帶一路”倡議的參與者。圖為2017年納吉布（左二）視察被認為是“一帶一路”倡議重要項目的東海岸鐵路項目。（路透社資料圖片）
