November 3, 2016

Malaysia has agreed to buy four Chinese naval vessels that operate close to shore, after the country's Prime Minister Najib Razak met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang early this week. Malaysia usually purchased military equipment from the US and the latest move marks its first significant defense deal with China. Some have called it a 'new milestone'. The two sides signed 14 agreements worth 231.8 billion yuan ($34.28 billion) on Wednesday, and Najib called it a "historic achievement."

Commentaries speculating that Najib is becoming the "second Duterte" in Southeast Asia and that Malaysia is 'another Asian domino falling toward Beijing' have run wild in mainstream Western media. The New York Times contended that 'American efforts to contain Chinese ambitions in the South China Sea depend on a ring of allies, but the region's united front may be crumbling.'

Najib said in a Chinese media outlet recently that former colonial powers should not 'lecture countries they once exploited on how to conduct their own internal affairs today.' The tensions between Malaysia and the US brewed by Washington's interference in Malaysia's internal affairs are similar to those between the US and the Philippines caused by the former's accusation against Duterte's human rights abuses during its anti-drug campaign."

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