Autore: Stefano Caldirola
In: Asia Maior. Vol. XXVI / 2015
Abstract

In 2015 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s leadership was badly shaken by the eruption of a huge corruption scandal in July. This same scandal contributed to making the Malaysian economic outlook negative, while the national currency fell to an all-time low against the US dollar. This was accompanied by a massive protest movement (Bersih 4.0), aimed at forcing Najib’s resignation, a goal that, however, at least up to the time of writing, has not been reached. At the same time, clear signals of discontent towards Najib’s leadership started to become visible even within UMNO, the Prime Minister’s own party. In November the announcement was made that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement had been signed by the Trade Ministers of 12 countries, including Malaysia. As the TPP is considered an important aspect of the US strategy to counter China’s influence in the Asia-Pacific region, Malaysia’s presence among the TPP signatories highlighted its role as a US strategic partner in the region. That same role was highlighted once again by Barack Obama’s November visit to Kuala Lumpur, on the occasion of the US-ASEAN meeting. However, Malaysia’s behaviour vis-à-vis China, in the months before the TPP announcement, showed that Kuala Lumpur’s closeness with the US was qualified by the need not to enter on a collision course with Beijing. Although Malaysia too has been involved in the disputes pitting China against several ASEAN countries in the South China Sea, Kuala Lumpur’s protests against Beijing’s assertiveness have been particularly weak. Indeed, Malaysia appears to be trying to perform a kind of balancing act, trying to appease both the US and China. At the same time, Malaysia, as Chairman of ASEAN for 2015, maneuvered to moderate the more aggressive anti-China positions of some of the other ASEAN members.

Stefano Caldirola | University of Bergamo | stefano.caldirola@unibg.it