Utterly embarrassing diplomatic oversight – Lim Sue Goan

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has always taken pride in his father's contribution in establishing Sino-Malaysian diplomatic ties. He followed his father's footsteps soon after taking over the premiership to further consolidate the friendship between the two countries.

As such, it came as a big shock to many when deputy foreign minister Datuk Reezal Merican said Wisma Putra would call in Chinese Ambassador Huang Huikang for an explanation over some comments he had made last Friday.

Given our full strategic partnership with China, the ambassador's remarks during a visit to Petaling Street should not be reason for the recent diplomatic hiccup.

As a matter of fact, different parties have their own interpretations over the incident involving the Chinese envoy.

Culture and Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Aziz said the deputy foreign minister had no right to summon an ambassador but Reezal denied he had signed the letter to summon the ambassador. Reezal reiterated that he knew of his own jurisdiction and did not act against protocol.

Ambassador Huang said he had not received any official notification and so he interpreted the calling in as mere misunderstanding and rumour.

Although Huang visited acting foreign minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin at the domestic trade ministry yesterday, he said the visit had nothing to do with the calling in, as they only discussed matters on the mutual visits by the two countries' leaders.

So who made the decision to summon the ambassador in the first place? Will the whole incident come to a rest soon? With Nazri off to Milan to meet Najib, hopefully things will get hammered out soon.

Undeniably Malaysia has very close economic relationship with China, our largest export market and a major source of investment and tourist arrival. Hence, it is imperative that the government handle this matter prudently.

A retrogression in the Sino-Malaysian diplomatic relationship will only hurt us more, not China. We simply cannot afford to let go of the promising Chinese market and funds because it is the second largest economy in this world.

Politicians should seriously consider the possible consequences of downgrading our relationship with Beijing instead of just political considerations.

Unfortunately, Utusan Malaysia has been vigorously fanning the flame by raising the issue of prostitutes from China.

We need more wisdom to tackle issues pertaining to national interest. Calling for race-motivated rallies and issuing hostile statements against other ethnic communities will only jeopardise the investment climate as well as interracial relationship.

However, our politicians will only consider defending their own positions without taking into account the possible consequences.

The worsening racial relations in this country have also incurred harsh criticisms from international media.

For instance The Economist said Malaysia has pledged to promote a more modernised and prosperous region in its capacity as the Asean chair this year, but the country has instead become more and more retrogressive as some people have found it difficult to accept criticisms from other people.

Perhaps the politicians should only talk about dignity if the country's economy is steadily improving, but given the fast devaluation of the ringgit and the "junk" rating by CDS, we simply cannot afford to raise any sensitive racial issue now.

The government will continue to come under pressure over the next few months, including the inflationary pressure stemming from the rapidly depreciating ringgit, worsening corporate layoffs and dwindling treasury revenue resulting in escalating deficits.

The government should therefore focus more on economic issues as no racial card will help once the economy slides into a recession, eventually taking its toll on Umno leaders.

With the country's international image now in a bad shape with foreign investors staying away from us, it will also be impossible for 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to settle its RM42 billion debts within six months.

Meanwhile, with the global economic outlook equally bleak, we need more than anything else the support of China.

Western countries are already skeptical of us while Middle Eastern countries are themselves in trouble given the plummeting international oil prices. If we lose the trust and friendship of China, we will have no one else to turn to when we are in hot water. – mysinchew.com, September 30, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.