PRC's (People's Republic of China) Foreign Policy in Southeast Asia and Its Implications on the Security of Malaysia

摘要

Communism in Malaya did not take its roots from the dissatisfaction of the peasantry nor from the desire of the indigenous population for independence under the British colonial rule. Instead it was brought in as an ideology from Peking by the agents of the Chinese Communist Party into the Chinese immigrant community in Malaya in the early 20's. The Communist Party of Malaya was formally established in 1930 by members of the Chinese Communist Party and remains under the strong influence of the latter to this day, with guidance and support from Beijing. Since 1948 the Communist Party of Malaya has continuously waged a 'war of national liberation' with the objective of establishing a communist state in Malaya, now known as Malaysia. China has since 1974 normalized diplomatic relations with Malaysia and other countries in Southeast Asia. However, China's foreign policy of establishing a government to government relationship with her anti-communist neighbors in Southeast Asia including Malaysia did not deter her from continuing to give her support to the communist movements in those same countries on the basis of party to party relationship. This is seen as the manifestation of her strategic objective of establishing Chinese political dominance in the Southeast Asian region. This dual track policy of China has both direct and indirect impacts on the regional and internal security of Malaysia.