More than a month ago, on 17 November, Mohammed Muiz was sworn in at an extraordinary session of Parliament in Malé, the capital of the Maldives. The official website of the Maldives ** office immediately posted Muiz's resume, and this "scholar" ** attracted the attention of various countries for a while.
I have met Dr. Muiz many times. A staff member of the Chinese Embassy in the Maldives said in an interview with Global People, "He doesn't talk much, but he is very capable and a doer." ”
Less than two months into office, Muiz led a high-level delegation to begin his visit to China on January 8, 2024. For both China and Malaysia, this visit is a "first" – Moiz is the first foreign head of state received by China at the beginning of the new year, and it is also the first state visit to a foreign country since Muiz took office.
Muhammad Muiz.
"A model of friendly exchanges between large and small countries".
Muiz's state visit to China lasted five days. On January 8, Muiz arrived in Xiamen with his wife and visited the Xiamen Free Trade Zone. The next day, Muiz attended the Maldives Investment Forum in Fuzhou and met with Chinese business leaders on investment and cooperation between the two countries. In terms of economic cooperation, Muiz said that under the free trade agreement between the two countries, the Maldives will rapidly increase its exports of fish products to China.
On January 10, Muiz and his entourage arrived in Beijing. ** A ceremony was held in the Great Hall of the People to welcome and hold talks with Mouiz on his State visit to my country. The two heads of state announced the upgrading of China-Maldives relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
** Noting that China and the Maldives are traditional friendly neighbors, and the peoples of the two countries have established friendly ties through the ancient Maritime Silk Road. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia 52 years ago, the two countries have always respected and supported each other, setting an example of countries big and small treating each other as equals, helping each other and achieving mutual benefit and win-win results. In recent years, the relations between the two countries have developed in depth, and the Belt and Road Initiative and exchanges and cooperation in various fields have achieved fruitful results. Under the new situation, China-Maldives relations are facing a historic opportunity to carry forward the past and forge ahead into the future. Elevating China-Maldives relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership is in line with the needs of the development of China-Maldives relations and the expectations of the two peoples. China is ready to work with Maldives to continuously expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields and work together to build a China-Maldives community with a shared future.
Muiz said, "It is a great honor for me to bring a number of important cabinet ministers to China for the first state visit and become the first foreign head of state to be received by China this year, which fully reflects the great importance that both sides attach to the development of Malaysia-China relations. The Maldivian side firmly adheres to the one-China policy. Firmly supporting each other in safeguarding national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity is a solid foundation for the sustained and sound development of Malaysia-China relations. The Maldivian people have benefited a lot from the cooperation between Malaysia and China, especially the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Malaysia-China Friendship Bridge has become a symbol of friendship between the two peoples.
Stretching the timeline, the friendship between China and Malaysia is rooted in history. About 600 years ago, Zheng He, a navigator of the Ming Dynasty, led a merchant fleet to visit the Maldives twice. Nowadays, the Chinese porcelain and coins unearthed in the Male Museum have become important material evidence of the friendly exchanges between China and Malaysia in history.
On October 14, 1972, China and Malaysia established diplomatic relations, and the Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka concurrently served as the Ambassador to the Maldives. On November 8, 2011, the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia was officially opened. On September 14, 2014, China paid a state visit to the Maldives, which was the first visit by China to the Maldives since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia, and the two sides agreed to establish a future-oriented comprehensive friendly and cooperative partnership between China and Malaysia, and elevate China-Maldives relations to a new height. At the end of that year, China and Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding on the joint construction of the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road", and the Maldives officially joined the "Belt and Road" family.
Over the past 10 years, China and Malaysia have maintained the momentum of friendly exchanges.
In terms of economic and trade exchanges, the two sides have established a mechanism of joint economic and trade committees, and the bilateral ** amount will reach 4 in 2022513.5 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 101%。In terms of tourism cooperation, as one of the most famous tourist countries in the world, the Maldives attracts tourists from all over the world, among which China has been the largest tourist source country in Malaysia for 10 consecutive years. In the fields of education, culture, sports, public health, radio and television, and local governments, exchanges and cooperation between China and Malaysia are also expanding. In 2022, the Chinese Language Center of Villa College Maldives was officially inaugurated.
People-to-people ties have become the bond and foundation of cooperation between China and Malaysia. Qian Feng, a researcher at the National Strategy Research Institute of Tsinghua University, told Global People reporters.
Long Xingchun, a professor at the School of International Relations of Sichuan University of Foreign Chinese, said in an interview that tourism is the pillar industry of the Maldives, so infrastructure is very important, and China has a strong ability in infrastructure, which is exactly in line with the needs of the Maldives. Muiz recognises the importance of working with China, and he approaches diplomacy from a more pragmatic and beneficial perspective for the Maldives.
Qian Feng analyzed to the Global People reporter, "Muiz cooperates with China and has very comfortable exchanges, because China respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries, does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, and can provide friendly assistance, which is conducive to the long-term development of the country." It is precisely on this basis that China and the Maldives have always respected and supported each other, and the relations between China and Maldives have become a model of friendly exchanges between countries large and small on the world stage."
The engineering "top student" has been hanging all the way
This trip to China is Muiz's first visit to China as a leader, but in fact, he has long been associated with China because of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative.
Muiz was born in 1978. After finishing secondary school in Male, he went to England to study, where he received his BA and MA in Structural Engineering from the University of London and a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Leeds. According to the official website of the Maldives** office, "Dr. Muiz is diligent and knowledgeable". His Ph.D. "Thermal Effect and Time-Dependent Effect of Integral Reinforced Concrete Roof Panel Wall Joints" has also won international industry awards.
After graduating, Muiz returned to the Maldives. His subsequent political career has also been marked as a profound "scholar".
Muhammad Muiz.
As a "technical **", Muyz has been hanging all the way in the workplace. In 1998, at the age of 20, Muiz started working for the Maldives** as a trainee technician with the Ministry of Construction and Public Works. In 2012, the 34-year-old Moiz was appointed Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Development of the Maldives. In 2018, Muiz joined the Maldives Progressive Party. In 2021, he was elected mayor of Male City, defeating the Democratic candidate of the Maldives.
During his tenure as Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Development and Mayor of Malé, Muiz coordinated and managed a number of infrastructure developments, with an impressive track record. Many of these infrastructure construction projects are carried out under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.
The most iconic building of the Belt and Road Initiative between China and Malaysia is the China-Malaysia Friendship Bridge. It is the first inter-island bridge in the Maldives and the first in the world to be built in an unsheltered environment of the deep ocean and coral reef geology.
China-Malaysia Friendship Bridge.
Qian Feng said that in the past, Hulhumale Island, where Velana International Airport is located, could only be reached by boat. After the bridge was opened to traffic in 2018, it would be possible to cross the island in 5 minutes. It can be said that this bridge has always been the wish of the Maldivian people. It has not only changed the transportation pattern of the Maldives and expanded the urban space, but also promoted the economic and social development of the Maldives and brought tangible benefits to the local people.
A Chinese living in the area described the changes after the opening of the bridge to Global People: "The pizzeria on Male Island has opened a takeaway service outside the island, and the delivery boy rides across the bridge to deliver fresh pizza, which was unimaginable before. As the Malaysian manager of the project, Muiz is one of the people most associated with the bridge.
Under Mouiz's leadership, Male's urban development has also taken to a higher level. During his tenure as Mayor of Malé, Muiz was responsible for coordinating and managing livelihood projects carried out by China and Malaysia, such as Hulhumale's affordable housing and the reconstruction and expansion of the international airport, and also introduced relevant technologies to pave the city's first asphalt road.
Velana International Airport.
Male is small, about a two-hour walk. Due to the limited land area, the buildings in Male were built as high and narrow as possible to "stretch" into the air. However, the architecture of Malé is dense but orderly, and many of the facades, doors and windows of the houses are painted in bright colors such as blue and green, giving the city a light and bright look. With the completion of several parks and other public facilities, Dr. Muiz has changed the face of the city of Male. The Maldives** office reads on its website.
In 2023, in the Maldives**, Muiz was nominated as the candidate of the Progressive Congress Coalition (made up of the Progressive Party and the People's Congress Party). He received 46 percent of the votes in the first round and 54 percent in the second round.
In the hearts of the Maldivian people, Muiz is pragmatic and close to the people. The projects he was responsible for brought benefits to the local population and helped him win the goodwill and support of the Maldivian people, which laid a good foundation for his subsequent campaigns. A staff member of the Chinese embassy in Malaysia, who is familiar with Muiz, told Global People reporters.
The "first fire" that attracts attention
The Maldives is made up of 1,192 tropical islands spread across 26 natural atolls in the Indian Ocean, hanging like a wreath at the southern tip of the Indian Peninsula. People who have traveled to the Maldives say that there is a sense of tranquility that is not found anywhere else, and that it makes people feel relaxed and happy. However, for the people of the Maldives, they have not been able to go smoothly on the road to independent development.
In the 16th and 18th centuries, the Maldives was invaded and ruled by Portuguese and Dutch colonists, and in 1887 it became a British "protectorate". It was not until 1965 that the country gained full independence. In 1968, the Maldives was established as a republic and implemented the ** system. "Since then, however, India has viewed the Maldives as its 'sphere of influence'. "In 1988, a coup d'état broke out in the Maldives, and India sent troops to help quell the rebellion at the request of the then Mar Gayoom. As a result, India has retained a 'small garrison' in the Maldives, beginning a history of more than 30 years of military presence in the Maldives. ”
The Maldives has repeatedly issued "eviction orders" against Indian garrisons. From 2013 to 2018, when the Maldives was in power, Yameen demanded a reduction in India's military presence and sought "strategic autonomy", but to no avail. In 2018, after Saleh from the Democratic Party came to power, he pursued an "India First" policy that was completely opposite to Yameen**, which further expanded India's "military power" in the Maldives.
In 2020, Saleh** signed a military agreement with India, agreeing to a number of privileges for about 75 Indian soldiers stationed in Malaysia. The agreement also agreed that India would provide the Maldives with other defence supplies, including two *** and one small aircraft, for "search and rescue missions". In 2021, the Maldives Defence Force disclosed that these "materials" were operated and maintained by Indian soldiers, and Ma ** had no right to intervene. For a time, this incident caused an uproar. "Obviously, the deployment of foreign personnel in the Maldives is undermining the national sovereignty of the Maldives. Qian Feng said.
At that time, some Indian dignitaries referred to the Maldives with a bit of 'Big Brother' arrogance. They unabashedly stated that India should 'intervene to control the situation in the Maldives' and 'safeguard its own special interests in the Maldives'. Some Indians** even refer to the Maldives as a 'tiny nation', which is very disgusting to many Maldivian people. Qian Feng said.
Maldives "India Out" Campaign.
Against this backdrop, the Maldives Progressive Party launched the "India Out" campaign, demanding the withdrawal of Indian military personnel. ** During the election campaign, Moiz's Progressive Congress coalition once again raised the slogan "India out". Muiz bluntly said that India's presence in the Maldives could put the country at risk. Muiz's victory once again illustrates the dissatisfaction and resistance of the Maldivian people against the Indian garrison. Qian Feng said.
In his inauguration declaration, Muiz reaffirmed his commitment that there would be no military presence of other countries in the Maldives. "The sovereignty of the Maldives is paramount," he said firmly. The people of the Maldives have told us that they don't want an out-of-town team to be stationed here. On November 18, 2023, the second day after taking office, Muiz burned the "first fire" to India and formally asked India to "withdraw troops". On December 3, India** said it "agreed to withdraw its troops" after discussions with the Maldives.
With a more developed tourism industry, the Maldives has a GDP per capita (1US$180,000) has been at the top of the list in South Asia. Qian Feng said, "After the new ** comes to power, he will pursue an independent foreign policy of peace and maintain friendly relations with all countries that respect the independence and sovereignty of the Maldives." Economically, Muiz** will work to further improve the economic resilience of the Maldives, give full play to its own resource advantages, and encourage and absorb foreign funds and assistance. In addition, as a country of thousands of small islands, the Maldives is significantly affected by climate change and has a very fragile ecological environment. How to make the Maldives a safer ecological environment and more effective in responding to climate change will also become a test for Moiz. ”