Malaysia is likely to maintain its “quiet diplomacy” in dealing with China’s sweeping maritime claims instead of heeding calls to be more aggressive, with Kuala Lumpur wary of Beijing’s ­tendency to enact punitive ­measures against those that ­challenge it openly. This was among the views shared by Malaysia’s leading scholars of the South China Sea dispute in a webinar yesterday on the matter.

Shahriman Lockman, one of the three Malaysian speakers in the event organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said it was a “common mistake to view the South China Sea dispute and the roles and policies of the claimants as some kind of morality tale”.  But “in the real world, all ­political leaders have to deal with the fact that China is very willing to be either very generous or very punitive with regards to ­economic relations”, said ­Shahriman, a fellow at the ­Institute of Strategic and International Studies.