Sunday, September 27, 2015

China’s ambassador tells Malaysia to stop the racism...

Huang Huikang, the Chinese ambassador to Malaysia, is expected to be summoned to the country’s foreign ministry on Sept.28 to explain a remarkable visit last Friday to the center of a Chinese area threatened by Malay-supremacy thugs. He pointedly inserted himself into racial tension in the country, saying at the time that the Chinese government is opposed to terrorism, extremism and discrimination based on race.

Such an action by an ambassador, not just in Malaysia but anywhere, is virtually unheard of. By any measure, it constitutes unprecedented interference in domestic politics and is viewed by critics as a raw assertion of Chinese power. China is now Malaysia’s second-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade amounting to US$28.2 billion in 2014 and may well be the largest, since Malaysia’s trade with Singapore is US$33.3 billion and Singapore acts largely as an entrepôt, shipping goods on to other countries.

Huang’s stroll through Chinatown as Malay “Red Shirt” supremacists threatened the area was a clear indication that China would not tolerate any form of criminal intimidation. But it has also raised serious concerns in the ethnic Chinese community that what is regarded as mainland ham-handedness could make it worse for them rather than better.

Nonetheless, Huang’s visit to the Petaling Street area appears to have played a role in bringing to a halt, at least for now, growing threats and intimidation by the Red Shirts led by a United Malays National Organization division chief named Jamal Md Yunos against Chinese hawkers and merchants in the area. The street is the epicenter of the urban Chinese community, home to the historic 127-year-old central market and hundreds of Chinese street hawkers and traders. Police arrested Jamal Yunos and warned Red Shirt protesters against marching through the area. The Red Shirts had been scheduled to march through Petaling Street on Saturday, Sept. 26, amid outright threats of violence. Full story...

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