WARM WELCOME AWAITS PRESIDENT HU JINTAO

By Tham Choy Lin

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 (Bernama) -- When President Hu Jintao flies in from
the late autumn cold of Beijing to kickoff a two-day visit here Tuesday, he will
be embraced by more than the tropical warmth.

The arrival of the Chinese leader is hailed as another milestone in the
close ties between the two countries that saw a visit to Beijing in early June
this year by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as prime minister for the first time.

Hu will be the first Chinese head of state to visit Malaysia in 15 years,
although he was here as deputy president in 2002, a year before he became
president.

The visit, enroute to Hu attending the APEC Summit in Singapore, goes deeper
than the symbolism of the 35th anniversary of Malaysia-China diplomatic ties.

"Since he became president, he has not travelled to many Asean countries. He
has a very busy schedule with important international meetings to attend and
also many leaders from all over the world going to China," former Malaysian
ambassador to China, Abdul Majid Khan, told Bernama.

"So, his visit here is a significant reinforcement of ties with Malaysia. It
was only a few months ago that our prime minister went there, so this is a
strong message from the two leaders of their commitment and desire to take the
relationship to a higher and broader level," he added.

Najib, whose prime minister father, the late Abdul Razak Hussein established
diplomatic ties with China, had underlined the priorities of his administration
in picking China as the first country to visit outside Southeast Asia just two
months after assuming office in April this year.

He wrapped up his visit with a pledge to take bilateral ties to greater
heights and repeated Malaysia's long-held rejection of the "China threat"
theory.

In Beijing, China Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said the president
would play "an important role in advancing China-Malaysia relations".

Amid the global recession, China is emerging as a crucial trade partner
for Malaysia with the two sides taking advantage of tariff cuts from the
Asean-China Free Trade Agreement that will come to fruition by next year.

China has become Malaysia's biggest trading partner this year, surpassing
Singapore, the United States and Japan.

Between January and September, bilateral trade reached RM89 billion (US$26.2
billion), accounting for nearly 13 per cent of Malaysia's total trade during the
period, according to Malaysian official trade figures.

Hu makes his first state visit at the invitation of the Malaysian King
Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, upholding a tradition of China's top leaders who
make it a point to visit Malaysia, save for chairman Mao Zedong.

Chinese visionary leader Deng Xiaoping, credited with establishing China's
"open door" policy and economic reform, was here as vice-premier in 1978,
President Yang Shangkun in 1990 and 1992, Premier Li Peng in 1992, President
Jiang Zemin in 1994, Premier Zhu Rongji in 1999 and Premier Wen Jiabao in 2005.

The solid relations have also been well nurtured with reciprocal visits by
Malaysia's rotating monarchs and leaders, especially former prime minister Dr
Mahathir Mohamad. For the record, Tuanku Mizan and his consort Tuanku Nur
Zahirah attended the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

After an official welcome at Paliament Square, Hu and his wife, Liu
Yongqing, will have an audience with Tuanku Mizan and attend a state banquet
hosted by His Majesty and the Queen at Istana Negara (National Palace).

The Chinese president will also hold talks and have lunch with Najib ahead
of the APEC Summit which the Malaysian leader will also attend.

During his April 2002 visit, Hu took a detour north of Malaysia to Penang
island and visited a two-storey shophouse that was a base for China nationalist
Sun Yat Seng in raising funds to overthrow the last imperial dynasty that led to
the founding of China as a republic.

This time, Hu will take a short drive south of the Malaysian capital for
another patch of Chinese history in the historic state of Melaka where the
seeds of relations between China and the Malay peninsula were sown.

China's revered mariner, Admiral Zheng He, first set foot in southern state
of Melaka in 1405 and in all, he stopped there in five of his seven voyages and
is believed to have set up warehouses to supply his voyages and store goods
gathered from his journeys.
-- BERNAMA