KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has committed a diplomatic faux pas by referring to his Chinese counterpart as "elder (big) brother", Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said.
The former foreign minister said Hishammuddin had clearly put China's State Councillor and its Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a difficult and embarrassing position.
"Wang Yi's body language said it all and he quickly uttered the phrase "we are brothers".
"As Malaysia's top diplomat, Hishammuddin should be more circumspect and tactful in his choice of a word or phrase. After all, as the saying goes, diplomacy is the first line of defence.
"Instead of arguing and trying to justify such wrong choice of phrase, Hishammuddin should have just accepted that he has committed a diplomatic faux pas.
"It was wrong enough to commit a diplomatic faux pas but to argue and try to justify it clearly showed the real character of the person," said Anifah, a former Barisan Nasional-turned-independent leader from Sabah who was foreign minister from 2009 to 2018.
The brouhaha over Hishammuddin's choice of words stemmed from a joint press briefing on Thursday which was in the presence of Wang Yi.
He received criticism on social media for the phrase and two days later, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also described Hishammuddin's choice of words as strange and urged the minister to apologise.
Anwar said such language and expressions should not be used in the fields of diplomacy and international relations because it puts Malaysia as being a 'boneka' (puppet) to a foreign country.
Yesterday (Saturday), Hishammuddin responded to the criticism by saying that the term he used to refer to Wang Yi was him being respectful to the Chinese State Councillor, as the latter was older and a more senior Foreign Minister.
Hishammuddin further clarified he was not referring to Malaysia-China bilateral relations when using the phrase and that the act of being respectful did not signify weaknesses.
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2021/04/679575/just-accept-you-committed-diplomatic-faux-pas-anifah-tells-hisham
FortuneBlooming
It is neither proper nor professional to address another country or their representative as ' bada bhai', 'abang besar', 'big brother', 'taikor' or whatever else in international diplomatic relations. Period.
2021-04-04 22:27