The first foreign leader to visit China this year was announced, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the President of the Maldives would visit China next week, and India sensed that the situation was not good. #军史观察团#
After entering 2024, who will be the first foreign leader to visit China is a topic of great concern, and in the past two days, the answer has been officially revealed. It is reported that Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on January 5 that President Mohammed Muiz of the Republic of Maldives will pay a state visit to China from the 8th to the 12th of this month at the invitation of China's top leader.
As soon as the news came out, it instantly attracted great attention from all walks of life. This means that Muiz will be the first foreign leader to visit China this year. As the first chapter of China's annual diplomacy, it can actually reflect China's foreign policy this year to a certain extent. You must know that the first foreign leader to visit China last year was Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and last year, China's foreign affairs focus was mainly on the ASEAN region.
As the first foreign head of state to visit China this year, Muiz not only highlights the importance that the Maldives attaches to China, but also shows that the focus of China's foreign affairs will still be on the Asia-Pacific region. However, after Muiz confirmed his visit to China, India sensed that the situation was not good.
As is customary in the Maldives, successive presidents have made India their first stop when they come to power. The first country Moiz visited after taking office was Turkey, and the first Maldivian president to visit China before visiting India since 2008.
Therefore, this decision by Muiz is bound to surprise India, and at the same time, it will also break India's diplomatic practice for more than a decade. But it's not just that that India feels that something is wrong. In fact, the situation has changed as early as the current general election in the Maldives.
In September last year, Moiz faced off against the previous president of the Maldives, Saleh, and in the end, Mouiz defeated Saleh with 54 percent of the vote, and the final difference between the two reached 8 percent. You know, Saleh is a "pro-India" politician who began to pursue an "India First" foreign policy after he took office in 2018.
Not only that, Saleh has also strengthened military cooperation with India, not only procuring weapons and equipment from India on many occasions, but also constantly encouraging India to increase its military presence in the Maldives. Moreover, there is no time that he has not visited China during his tenure, and the last Maldivian president to visit China was Saleh's predecessor Yameen.
Therefore, it can be seen from these aspects that during the Saleh administration, the Maldives was obviously very close to India and also intended to keep a distance from China. But Saleh's defeat to Moiz in the election this time has already shown that the majority of the Maldivian people no longer support pursuing an "India First" foreign policy.
Muiz, on the other hand, is very different from Saleh in terms of foreign policy. At the time of the election, he publicly stated that the Maldives should not be involved in a geopolitical struggle between the great powers. Not only that, but the first thing he did after taking office was to demand that India immediately withdraw its troops from the Maldives, and during this time, both Malaysia and India were negotiating on this matter.
Last month, Muiz also publicly stated that the Indian government had agreed to withdraw troops from the Maldives. This is also a big shock for India, which has a military presence in the Indian Ocean region due to its strategic location.
If India withdraws, it will weaken India's influence in the Indian Ocean region. Therefore, Muiz's decision has also caused a lot of "criticism", with the Indian media calling him a "pro-China" leader and hyping that his appointment will allow China to further "crowd out" India.
Muiz also responded positively to these claims, saying bluntly that he is a "pro-Mardaf" politician and that he will not support or oppose any country, but the independence of the Maldives comes first. Suffice it to say that in the face of intensifying great power competition, these small countries are seeking a more balanced foreign policy in order to protect themselves.
What's more, Muiz is well aware that strengthening the cooperative relationship with China is beneficial to the development of the Maldives. As he was the mayor of Malé, he was responsible for promoting cooperation projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, such as the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge, so he knew that China was capable of helping the Maldives develop further.
It can be seen from this that more and more countries have come to their senses and will not take sides among the major powers. Countries like India, which are bent on provoking geopolitical struggles, will eventually be smart and mistaken by their cleverness.