Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – When US President Donald Trump lands in Malaysia for Southeast Asia’s headline summit this weekend, he will probably be delivering Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim a diplomatic coup.
US presidents hardly ever go to Malaysia, a multiracial nation of 35 million folks sandwiched between Thailand and Singapore, which for many years has maintained a coverage of not choosing sides in rivalries between nice powers.
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Trump is simply the third US chief to journey to the Southeast Asian nation, which is internet hosting a Sunday-to-Tuesday summit for the Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), following visits by former US Presidents Barack Obama and Lyndon B Johnson.
After skipping ASEAN summits in 2018, 2019 and 2020, Trump, whose disdain for multilateralism is famend, will probably be attending the gathering of Southeast Asian nations for simply the second time.
The US president will probably be joined by a bunch of high-profile leaders from non-ASEAN nations, together with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Opting to not attend are Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese language President Xi Jinping, who Trump is predicted to satisfy in South Korea at subsequent week’s Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Trump’s go to, in some ways, is emblematic of the fragile balancing act that Anwar’s authorities has sought to keep up as Malaysia navigates the headwinds of the heated rivalry between the US and China.
Malaysia is deeply entwined with each the US and Chinese language economies.
The US, which has a big footprint in Malaysia’s tech and oil and gasoline industries, was the Southeast Asian nation’s prime overseas investor and third-biggest buying and selling associate in 2024.
China, a significant purchaser of Malaysian electronics and palm oil, the identical yr took the highest spot in commerce and was third for funding.
However Malaysia’s efforts to stroll a effective line between Washington and Beijing have turn out to be more and more fraught because the superpowers roll out tit-for-tat tariffs and export controls whereas butting heads over regional flashpoints resembling Taiwan and the South China Sea.
“Optimally, Malaysia desires to productively interact each China and the US on a wide range of points,” mentioned Thomas Daniel, an analyst on the Institute of Strategic & Worldwide Research in Kuala Lumpur.
“It’s in our curiosity,” Daniel advised Al Jazeera.
Anwar has solid Trump’s go to as an opportunity to bolster financial ties, champion regional peace and stability, and elevate ASEAN’s standing on the worldwide stage.
Anwar has additionally pledged to make use of the uncommon alternative for face time with Trump to constructively increase factors of distinction between Washington and Kuala Lumpur, significantly the Palestinian trigger.
“The through-line is autonomy: keep away from entanglement, maximise choices, and extract advantages from each poles with out changing into anybody’s proxy,” Awang Azman Awang Pawi, a professor on the College of Malaya, advised Al Jazeera.
Throughout Trump’s go to, US tariffs on Malaysia, at present set at 19 p.c, and China’s mooted export controls on uncommon earths are anticipated to be excessive on the agenda.
For Malaysia, the precedence is preserving “rules-based” commerce that enables for nations to deepen financial ties regardless of their political variations, mentioned Mohd Ramlan Mohd Arshad, a senior lecturer on the MARA College of Expertise in Shah Alam, close to Kuala Lumpur.
A chronic financial chilly struggle between the US and China is the “worst factor” that would occur to Malaysia, Arshad advised Al Jazeera.
Trump, who has made no secret of his ambitions for the Nobel Peace Prize, can also be anticipated to witness the signing of a peace accord between Thailand and Cambodia, which engaged in a short border battle in July that left a minimum of 38 folks useless.
For Anwar, who has led a multiracial coalition of events with various and competing pursuits since 2022, the balancing act additionally entails political concerns at house.
US help for Israel’s struggle in Gaza has been a bone of competition in Muslim-majority Malaysia, the place the plight of Palestinians has impressed frequent public protests.
Within the run-up to the summit, critics have demanded that Anwar rescind Trump’s invitation over his position in supporting the struggle, which a United Nations fee of inquiry final month decided to represent genocide.
“An individual like Trump, irrespective of how highly effective, shouldn’t be welcomed in Malaysia,” former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar’s former mentor-turned-nemesis, mentioned in a video message final month.
Defending the invitation, Anwar has confused his view of diplomacy as “sensible work” for advancing his nation’s pursuits “in an imperfect world”.
“It calls for stability, self-discipline, and the braveness to remain the course even when the bottom shifts beneath us,” he advised a convention in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month.
As a small energy, Malaysia has all the time put pragmatism on the centre of its overseas coverage, mentioned Sharifah Munirah Alatas, a world relations lecturer on the Nationwide College of Malaysia.
“Anwar and Malaysia can not afford to do in any other case,” Alatas advised Al Jazeera.
“And given the present extremely unpredictable Sino-American stress induced by the Trump 2.0 period, ASEAN will stay actively non-aligned, with out taking sides.”
Awang Azman, the College of Malaya professor, mentioned that whereas Trump’s go to will elevate Malaysia and ASEAN’s profile by itself, the true check of the summit’s success will probably be tangible outcomes on points such because the Thailand-Cambodia battle and commerce.
“It’s not only a picture op if a ceasefire accord and concrete commerce language land on paper,” Awang Azman mentioned.
“If both monitor stalls, the go to remains to be symbolically vital – given the rarity of US presidential journeys to Malaysia – however the narrative will revert to optics over outcomes.”
