PETALING JAYA: Malaysia-China friendly diplomatic relations took a blow recently over a Chinese military aircraft manoeuvre in airspace near Sarawak, despite the close bilateral economic relations and proactive cooperation between China and Malaysia in combating Covid 19 pandemic, particularly in the area of vaccine supply.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein issued a note of diplomatic protect and summoned Chinas ambassador to Malaysia over a the intrusion by 16 Chinese air force planes into Malaysian airspace.
The spotlight is now focused on the Special Meeting of Asean-China Foreign Ministers in China that to be held today.
The Malaysian foreign ministry representative is expected to meet and discuss the said incident with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the special meeting.
Southeast Asia Research Centre for Humanities (SEARCH) and the Association of Belt and Road Malaysia said having a direct conversation through face-to- face dialogue is crucial to resolve any misunderstanding and work towards the common interest of maintaining peace and stability in the Southeast Asia region.
Besides, top priorities should be focused on joint efforts in Covid-19 vaccines cooperation and economic collaboration to drive the recovery process which eventually serve the best interest and benefit of both countries.
Malaysia is in a critical situation as daily Covid-19 positive cases jump to all-time high that forced the government to re-imposing a full lock down. We need to speed up the national vaccination programme to flattening the curve and bring the country back to normal, or otherwise both peoples lives and economy are at stake, they said in a joint press statement.
It is crucial for the Malaysian government delegation to prioritize regional stability, but also vaccination and economic cooperation in the bilateral meeting with the Chinese counterpart, they added.
The two organisations said key areas should be focused on vaccine production in Malaysia, SOPs on the reciprocal green lane and economic collaboration in the areas of poverty reduction, digital economy and FDIs that encourage new job creation and technology transfer between Malaysia and China.
These bilateral cooperation will only materialise by maintaining the regional peace and stability, they added.