China's Belt and Road Initiative: The Malaysian Dilemma
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The Malaysian Dilemma presents the case of a small, middle-income country’s engagement with China through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). While the BRI’s global reach and ambitions have drawn attention to the potential risks and benefits of Chinese investment, this thesis aims to study one partner country’s perspective through an analysis of the political economic logic and decision-making calculus of its top leaders. Malaysia provides an instructive case, with the leadership transition between Prime Ministers from Najib Razak to Mahathir Mohamad that catalyzed the evolution of the BRI locally. This opportunity for the Malaysian government to reshape its BRI involvement is evaluated through three in depth case studies: the high-profile East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), and the Melaka and Kuantan ports. The Malaysian government’s subsequent renegotiations and cancellations of BRI projects reflect the balancing of complex interests and opportunities for small states to advance their agenda through political maneuvering. Based on the analysis of Malaysian political economic logic surrounding these cases, further avenues for research and policy recommendations are proposed to address key BRI challenges surrounding good governance, transparency and sustainable development.
Description
Type of resource | text |
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Date created | August 2019 |
Creators/Contributors
Author | Teo, Zhi Ping | |
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Degree granting institution | Stanford University, Stanford Global Studies, Center for East Asian Studies | |
Primary advisor | Oi, Jean |
Subjects
Subject | Stanford Global Studies |
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Subject | East Asian Studies |
Subject | Belt and Road Initiative |
Subject | China |
Subject | Malaysia |
Subject | East Coast Rail Link |
Subject | Melaka Port |
Subject | Kuantan Port |
Subject | Policy |
Subject | Political Science |
Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
Access conditions
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- User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Teo, Zhi Ping. (2019). China's Belt and Road Initiative: The Malaysian Dilemma. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/rm934mm3115
Collection
Stanford Center for East Asian Studies Thesis Collection
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- Contact
- zpteo@alumni.stanford.edu
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