Years after his acquittal of abetting the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu, last night was widely perceived as political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda’s first public appearance.

At a forum organised by think-tank Centre for Global Affairs Malaysia (Icon), Razak Baginda and Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) chief executive officer Wan Saiful Wan Jan took the stage at the Bangunan Getah Asli to speak on the topic of democracy.

Razak Baginda, however, denied he had spent most of his last couple of years overseas.

Initially declining to answer when asked how long he had been here, Razak Baginda eventually said he had been living in Malaysia when pressed whether he was back here for good.

“Yeah I live in Malaysia, alright. I spend more time in Malaysia than abroad.

“But you see you guys don’t do your homework. I’m always in Malaysia,” he told the press.

With his slight British twang and his various references to British politics during the programme, however, he did give off the impression that he had indeed spent most of his time overseas.

Even though last night’s programme was promoted as a public event, right before the programme started, the press were told that the event was not for publication.

However, Wan Saiful told the media that his parts during the forum were not off the record.

Despite Razak Baginda’s part being off the record, he was careful with his words and kept strictly to his topic, which was democracy in the global context.

And the 56-year-old's guarded demeanor did not end there - a bodyguard could be seen following him wherever he went before the programme started and as soon as it ended.

But Razak Baginda would have had little to worry about, as the event last night only attracted some 50 participants.

And the question-and-answer session turned out to be a tame affair, as no sensitive questions were raised.

Approached by the press after the forum, Razak Baginda looked to be in a hurry and said that he had “a flight to catch”.

“I don't want to make any statements, I don't want to answer any questions, unless you want to ask about what I had talked about."

China our economic partner in tourism

He did, however, relent and agree to comment on the current Malaysian delegation in China led by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

This was after it was pointed out to him that he had written a thesis on Malaysia-China relations.

Noting how China is currently the second biggest economy in the world, Razak Baginda said the superpower would even take over the United States soon.

“If you look at the trend, everyone is now making a beeline to the Chinese.

"Okay, we clash over the South China Sea issue, there are a few outstanding issues here and there but to me, forging good relations with the Chinese is actually not such a bad thing," he said.

Asked on critics who claim that Najib’s trip to China was part of efforts to "bail out" his brainchild 1MDB, Razak Baginda replied: “If your imagination can run wild, hey, we can speculate anything.”

China, he said, has become an economic partner to Malaysia especially when it comes to tourism.

“We can't burn that bridge, this is a very important bridge. Tourism affects everything.

“You look at the South China Sea - that's one issue. You want to bring the 1MDB issue, you know, if you want to let your imagination run wild, go ahead.

“But the reality is, China is so big, look at the impact of MH370," he said, of the ill-fated flight which carried mostly Chinese passengers and whose disappearance had initially affected Chinese tourism in Malaysia.

Najib is currently in Beijing for a six-day official visit to China aimed at strengthening long-standing bilateral ties between the two countries.

Critics, however, said the prime minister was seen to be leaning more towards China especially after the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit - which seeks to recover more than US$1 billion worth of assets linked to 1MDB - was filed in July.