CHINA is seeking to strengthen its presence in Southeast Asia by investing billions into the building of a new deep-sea port in Malacca, targeting Chinese and international seafarers travelling along the Straits of Malacca.

The US$10 billion (RM43 billion) Melaka Gateway aims to overtake Singapore as the largest port in the region, and is the result of an alliance between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing – which has invested US$7.2 billion into the project – to increase bilateral trade and boost shipping and logistics along China’s Maritime Silk Road, said a report by Bloomberg.

But China’s economic alliance with Malaysia has not been confined to the redevelopment of the Malacca port.

In November, Prime Minister Najib Razak brought home US$33.6 billion in deals when he visited China – the biggest haul yet between the countries – plus an agreement to buy four patrol boats from China.

Chinese companies also accounted for nearly half the total value of projects by foreign contractors in construction projects in Malaysia in 2015.

The rush of Chinese investments in Malaysia, which have risen substantially since Xi Jinping took power in 2012, has been hailed by Najib as the key to building up world-class infrastructure in Malaysia, but analysts said the closeness between the two nations raises questions of sovereignty and growing Chinese influence in politics.

“The closeness with China is an Achilles heel for Najib,” said Mustafa Izzuddin, a fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

“While investment coming in will balloon government coffers and boost the economy, the opposition is using the China card to criticise the government for becoming too close to China and accusing it of selling Malaysia’s sovereignty,” he told Bloomberg.

China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner since 2009, displacing Singapore, with two-way trade valued at US$83.4 billion. China is Malaysia’s biggest export market.

The country has committed to import goods worth US$2 trillion from Malaysia over the next five years (a near eight-fold jump from 2016 imports over that period), invest up to US$150 billion in the country and offer 10,000 places for training in China.

Beijing is also readying a state visit by Xi to Malaysia in the coming months.

Some analysts said Najib’s closeness to China could come at a political cost, as his critics said the country will need to cede influence to Beijing in exchange for its money.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said in his blog earlier this year that local businesses and workers will ultimately lose out.

“Much of the most valuable land will now be owned and occupied by foreigners,” Dr Mahathir said.

“In effect, they will become foreign land.”

“There are perceptions that Najib is being bought by the Chinese,” said Bridget Welsh, a political scientist at John Cabot University in Rome and author of “The End of UMNO? Essays on Malaysia’s Dominant Party.

“Within Malaysia, China’s interventions have the potential to bring about greater ethnic tensions and political instability, as well as affect Malaysia’s relationships with its neighbours,” she said in the report.

However, Harrison Cheng, a senior analyst with Control Risks in Singapore, said even though some quarters within Umno were uneasy about Chinese investments, the core issues affecting voters remains as economic and cost-of-living issues.

“There has yet to be any strong signs of a serious backlash within Umno and the public,” he said. – August 1, 2017.