Chinese landing ship Jinggang Shan

2024 stopover in Penang

In October 2024, Jinggang Shan and the Type 680 training ship docked at Swettenham Pier in George Town, the capital city of the Malaysian state of Penang. During the stopover, the crew paid a courtesy call on the speaker of the Penang legislature Law Choo Kiang and toured the Penang State Assembly Building.^[2][3] Some of the crew also visited the Chung Ling Private High School, where they received a "friendly" reception to mark the 50th anniversary of China's diplomatic ties with Malaysia. After the visit, the two ships proceeded to Chittagong, Bangladesh.^[2]

The stopover led to criticism from Malaysia's right-wing Islamist opposition, led by the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), which accused the Anwar Ibrahim administration of compromising Malaysia's national sovereignty.^[4] The school lodged a police report against malicious social media content, while Penang state executive councillor Wong Hon Wai clarified that the crew who visited the school were tertiary students and not navy personnel.^[3][5] Some analysts have suggested that PAS intended to exploit the stopover to stir racial tensions and intimidate the country's Chinese minority by insinuating that China was collaborating with the Chinese community in Penang, the only Malaysian state continuously governed by ethnic Chinese since independence.^[4]