Malaysia's sultan to visit China, eyes infrastructure support

Date:

Share post:


BEIJING (Reuters) – Malaysia’s Sultan Ibrahim will visit China for a four-day visit, China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday, with the ceremonial ruler from the southern state of Johor likely to seek support to revive projects boosting its connectivity to neighbouring Singapore.

Sultan Ibrahim was installed as the country’s 17th king in January, under a unique system of monarchy where the heads of Malaysia’s nine royal families take turns to be the king every five years, and are supposed to stay above politics.

But the 65 year-old has indicated he intends to weigh in on the country’s political issues, and proposed Malaysia’s state oil firm Petroliam Nasional and the country’s anti-corruption agency report directly to the king during an interview with Singapore’s Strait Times newspaper ahead of his installation.

He has been invited by President Xi Jinping and will visit China from Sept. 19-22, the foreign ministry said in a statement, giving no further details.

China’s second-ranking official, Premier Li Qiang, visited Kuala Lumpur in June and backed Malaysian plans to develop its connectivity through a $10-billion East Coast Rail link to other China-backed railways projects in Laos and Thailand.

Li said that the proposal would realise plans for a proposed Pan-Asia Railway running from Kunming in China to Singapore, presumably through Johor, which is where Ibrahim wants to develop a rail link, too.

Ibrahim has spoken of plans to revive a stalled high-speed rail project between Malaysia and Singapore, with a border crossing in Forest City, a $100-billion China-backed land reclamation and development project off Johor that he has a stake in.

(This story has been refiled to correct the spelling of the rail link project in paragraph 5)

(Reporting by Joe Cash; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Kim Coghill)



Source link

Alexandra Williams
Alexandra Williams
Alexandra Williams is a writer and editor. Angeles. She writes about politics, art, and culture for LinkDaddy News.

Recent posts

Related articles

Here's What the Latest Science Tells Us About Ivermectin

EARLY IN THE Covid pandemic, some medicines got reputations for potentially being able to treat the virus,...

Deadly bomb cyclone hits Pacific Northwest, bringing high winds and devastating damage

At least two people have died after a bomb cyclone slammed into the Pacific Northwest, snapping tree...

Weekend storm dishes another brutal blast of winter to the Prairies

There's no easing into winter across the Prairies this week, as back-to-back storm systems bring plunging temperatures,...

Winter Weather Advisory issued for parts of area; Latest track, timing, impacts for snow

Snow showers are likely on Thursday for the snowflakes of the season.The National Weather Service has issued...

Russia says new US base in Poland raises overall nuclear danger

MOSCOW/WARSAW (Reuters) -Russia said on Thursday that a new U.S. ballistic missile defence base in northern Poland...

North Carolina GOP lawmakers vote to strip incoming Democratic leaders' powers

North Carolina Republican lawmakers voted to strip the state’s incoming Democratic governor and attorney general of key...

Twin Cities roads 'glare ice,' local sheriff advises limited travel

Snow coupled with temps dipping below freezing has led to very slippery road conditions in Minnesota, namely...

Missing Hawaii woman’s family alarmed over new info: ‘She’s not alone’

HONOLULU (KHON2) — It has been nine days since Hannah Kobayashi’s cell phone was last located at...