The team of eight Chinese coronavirus experts waved flags and gave the thumbs up when they arrived in Kuala Lumpur on April 19. But this cheerful front comes amid an escalating stand-off between China and other claimants, including Malaysia, over disputed waters of the South China Sea. Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is unlikely to cool ties with China, said Dr Johan Saravanamuttu, a senior fellow at RSIS, as the spoils of “virus diplomacy come with the West and US in no position to help”.