Is Wan Azizah S Non Handshake With Xi Jinping A Communications Fiasco Totally Avoidable

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PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) gala dinner at the Tianjin Meijiang Convention Centre in China on Aug 31. He was accompanied by his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
They were greeted by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at the dinner hosted by Xi as current SCO chairman ahead of the 2025 Summit on Monday (Sept 1).
As reported by the Malay Mail, PMX arrived in China on Sunday evening (Aug 31) for a four-day working visit to China which will also include a visit to Beijing.
What was NOT reported by local media was that there was a very awkward moment when Wan Azizah declined the China paramount leader’s extended hand, choosing instead of bow with hand on heart.
Xi looked bemused as she shook Peng’s hands while PMX himself had no qualms shaking Peng’s hands.
The awkward three-second scene was picked up by Russia News (@mog_russEN) on X which simply proclaimed the incident as “UNUSUAL” with a stinging one-liner, “The wife of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim refused to shake hands with President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Summit in Tianjin 2025”.
UNUSUAL
The wife of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim refused to shake hands with President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Summit in Tianjin 2025 pic.twitter.com/IPVGmlv2jz
— RussiaNews  (@mog_russEN) September 1, 2025

The post with the clip of the highly awkward moment has since generated 4.1M views. Some commenters were quick to explain the issue, ie devout Muslim women do NOT shake hands with men who are not family.
“She bowed and paid respect though she didn’t shake hands. That’s the teaching of Islam, women don’t touch skin with men who aren’t mahram (family members),” Indonesian author Yeni Mulati defended Wan Azizah under Afifah Afra (@afifahafra79).

The fact that Malaysia’s former deputy prime minister bowed as a respectful gesture clearly signalled that it was NOT a rebuff of any sort, argued other commenters.


However, some commenters sought to read a bit too much into this three-second episode, stating that the refusal of Xi’s extended hand could lead to diplomatic row. One contended that “a handshake carries serious weight in Asian diplomacy”.

That this non-handshake is treated as a non-event in Asian media is testament that the Western media is trying to stir a storm in a teacup, claimed some commenters.

One commenter pointed out that this was not unusual in diplomatic meetings as it has happened before as in the case of new Syrian leader – Ahmed Al-Sharaa – who did not shake ex-German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock’s hand when they met.

However, the pertinent point that was highlighted by some commenter was the breakdown in communications between the two leaders’ public relations teams. Why was this piece of valuable information about cultural/religious restriction not conveyed beforehand to the host nation?

While this cultural practice is par for the course in Muslim-majority Malaysia – or other Muslims nations for that matter – it should have been properly conveyed to the Chinese organisers.as it entails protocols.

Such diplomatic meetings and summits are high profile events designed to put a positive spin for all parties involved. It should not be derailed by allowing Western media to highlight non-issues such as this in an embarrassing manner.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim attends the gala dinner in conjunction with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025 at the Tianjin Meijiang Convention Centre in China on Aug 31, 2025. Accompanying him is wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (Image credit: Anwar Ibrahim/Facebook)There is a lesson to be learnt from this incident – never assume that others are aware of one’s culture, customs or religious constraints no matter how prevalent they are locally.
Certainly, food for thought for PMX’s comms team. – Focus Malaysia

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