China’s growing influence and power is, by now, a cliche. Everyone is familar with the rise of China and how its GDP will overtake America’s and etc etc.

What we often forget is how Beijing has used its newfound influence to bully and to interfere.

Take, for example, the ASEAN summit, which has been divided over the South China Sea dispute since 2012. In 2016, ASEAN members were unable to issue a joint statement on the South China Sea dispute because of differences between nations who want to reference China’s militarisation of the region and those who don’t.

Cambodia was singled out for blocking the joint statement, but the real culprit is Beijing. It should come as no surprise to anyone that China is not just Cambodia’s largest trading partner, but also its largest donor and largest foreign investor. It is not inconceivable that a newly-emboldened Beijing would urge its longtime ally to champion its interests at the ASEAN summit—at the expense of other Southeast Asia nations.

China, of course, denies this. The experts roll their eyes at such denial. One academic from National Taiwan University commented that “there are enough players in China’s pocket or just don’t want to be in the fight”. The Japan Times was even more brusque in the dispute’s aftermath. “China’s ties with Cambodia has paid off,’ it writes.

This issue did not go ‘viral’ because ASEAN summit joint statements make for dry reading. For a more salacious example of Chinese meddling, check out Mr. Bilahari Kausikan’s short book China Is Messing With Your Mind.

Although only 41 pages long, it is a damning indictment of China’s foreign interference. During the Malaysian general elections of 2018, the Chinese ambassador to Malaysia ‘openly campaigned for the president of Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) in his constituency in Bentong, Pahang.’

In another example from 2015, a previous ambassador sought to capitalise on the longstanding racial tensions in Malaysia. After an anti-Chinese demonstration that involved effigy-burning, the Chinese Ambassador made his way to KL’s Chinatown and read out a statement which “among other things, implied that China would not stand idly by if Overseas Chinese were threatened”.

Whatever you may think of Malaysia’s Bumiputera system or Bilahari’s worldview, this is a disturbing development. It is understandable that China would prefer Najib’s BN over Mahathir’s PKR because of its sizable investments in Malaysia. However, it is totally out of line for its foreign representatives to participate in local politics.

Last but not least, let’s not see fit how Terrex incident of 2016, when Beijing saw fit to seize SAF property to ‘punish’ Singapore and ‘to teach us a lesson’ about siding against their interests.