Subtitle:
By:Yingying Su, Kun Zhai, Congcong Fu, Qingrun Song
Publisher:Social Sciences Academic Press
ISBN:978-7-5201-9546-1
Publication Date:2021-12-28
Language:Chinese
The year of 2020 is another important year in Malaysian history. In this year,Tun Dr.Mahathir,the Prime Minster of Malaysia stepped down unexpectedly caused by the pressure from the split of the ruling party coalition Pakatan Rakyat,which is called Sheraton Coup. Due to the small margin in Dewan Rakyat,the parliament of Malaysia,the new government led by the BERSATU President Tan Sri Mahiaddin Yasin,has encountered fierce political competition. At the same time,COVID-19 has spread in 2020,suffering Malaysia. The ruling and opposition parties cooperated to fight against the pandemic when political competition was under way. Due to the need to cope with the virus,the Mahiaddin Yasin’s government survived from the power struggle.
The blue book focuses on the changes of Malaysian internal politics and foreign relations under the background of Sheraton Coup and COVID-19. The scholars discuss many issues like political changes after Sheraton Coup,National Emergency,the role of Malaysian King,e-economy and development of automotive industry,the APEC leaders meeting,the new characteristics of China-Malaysian people-to-people exchanges,and the perception of Malaysian media on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The book also talks about the prospect of China-Malaysian relations. The topics mentioned above are the new topics relating to the changes in Malaysian politics,economy,foreign relations and security.
Our research finds that in 2020,political situation in Malaysia was unstable. The new government led by Mahiaddin Yasin struggles from the conflict of ruling and opposition parties and intervene of the King. Power struggle,prevention of COVID-19 and economic development are the major challenges for Malaysia in the coming years.
Affected by COVID-19,Malaysia’s economy contracted 5.6% in 2020. All sectors were hit hard by the pandemic,especially the service sector and foreign trade. However,the e-economy made big progress. Service in e-commerce and e-payment has increased dramatically,promoting the economic development to some extent. E-economy industry is facing some difficulties like lack of infrastructure,talented persons and digital gap. Apart from e-economy,the Malaysian government published policy for automotive industry to guide its development in the next decade.
In foreign relations,though Malaysian foreign activities were confined by the pandemic,the APEC leaders meeting was successfully held by Malaysia. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was also signed to promote regional economic cooperation.
At the same time,in 2020,China-Malaysia relations achieved success. The people to people communication between the two countries was sustainable and pragmatical with the establishment of some regular mechanisms. BRI cooperation between China and Malaysia was under way. The Malaysian Chinese media like Sinchew Daily played an active role in sharing the information to promote BRI cooperation. For the relations between China and Malaysia after the pandemic,the two countries will face both opportunities and challenges. The unstable political situation,economic downturn and geopolitical competition are the three challenges,but China and Malaysia can expand cooperation in the fields like public health,e-economy,sustainable development and regional integration.