OPPOSITION Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hurled brickbats on Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein for calling China as Malaysia’s “big brother”.
“As a non-aligned nation which does not take side of any superpower, Hishammuddin’s statement is nothing short of an insult to Malaysia.
“I urge our Foreign Affairs Minister to apologise and retract the statement,” he said, in a Facebook post.
Hishammuddin courted controversy at the end of his two-day working visit to China, where he referred to China as Malaysia’s “big brother”.
His Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, who was present at the press conference added “We are brothers”. The matter received much coverage by China’s media.
Malaysia is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), a forum participated by 120 developing nations which is not with or against any major powers of the globe.
Mind your language
Anwar, who was a former deputy prime minister, said that while Malaysia should continue efforts to strengthen ties with China, it was important for Government officials to watch their words during official engagements.
“And Hishammuddin’s gesture is not something we should emulate in terms of diplomacy and international relations.
“He just made Malaysia look like a ‘puppet’ for foreign powers,” the Port Dickson MP retorted. – Apr 3, 2021.
