May our ties remain forever

Fast friends: Bai Tian calling on Dr Mahathir at his office in Perdana Leadership Foundation, Putrajaya, in May last year. The Chinese Ambassador presented a fan inscribed with the Chinese proverb ‘lao ma shi tu’ (old horse leads the way); Lao Ma is the Chinese nickname for Dr Mahathir.

FRIENDSHIP plays a very important role in Chinese culture. In the Analects Of Confucius, the master says: “It is always a pleasure to greet a friend from afar.”

Forty-five years ago, a Malaysian friend came from afar to visit China. He was the second prime minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein. It was during this visit that China and Malaysia officially established diplomatic relations, and ushered in a new era of friendly exchanges between two ancient civilisations.