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Trump chaos could push Malaysia to embrace Xi on rare visit

Economic pragmatism may determine how Chinese leader’s visit goes.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim meets Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 31, 2023.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in March 2023.

PHOTO: PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE OF MALAYSIA

Shannon Teoh

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Whether by design or coincidence, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s

first visit to Malaysia in a dozen years

couldn’t have been better timed.

Less than two weeks after US President Donald Trump

unleashed tariffs on the rest of the world,

Mr Xi’s arrival on April 15 – originally billed as a goodwill trip – may now mark a decisive shift in Kuala Lumpur’s long-held policy of geopolitical non-alignment.

Trump chaos could push Malaysia to embrace Xi on rare visit

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