Malaysia's pusillanimous foreign policy

Malaysia's pusillanimous foreign policy

Tommy Thomas
Published: Aug 12, 2025 10:30 AM
Updated: 12:30 PM


COMMENT | Successive prime ministers have, since Merdeka, played a major role in the making of the nation’s foreign policy and raising its international profile.

Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaya and Malaysia’s first prime minister, was instrumental in shaping the direction of our international relations, carving an independent path for the newly independent, sovereign nation.

Tunku refused to join SEATO (the Alliance created by the US to confront Cold War paranoia and Communism) and the Non-Aligned Movement.

He supported India in the Sino-Indian conflict in 1962. He bravely led the newly born Malaysia in its fight against the Indonesian Confrontation from 1963 to 1966.

Finally, Tunku, unlike many of our neighbours, refused to support the US in the Vietnam War.

Tunku steered the ship of state in dangerous, uncharted waters with confidence. Our national interest was always defended with all our might.

Tunku Abdul Rahman


Tunku’s outstanding oversight of foreign policy was followed by his immediate successors.

Abdul Razak Hussein subtly shifted emphasis to a less British-centric posture, culminating in the historic opening of diplomatic relations with Mao Zedong’s China in 1974.

Razak also supported the initiative by his deputy, Tun Ismail Abdul Rahman of the “Neutralisation of Southeast Asia” as a zone of peace without interference from global powers.

Hussein Onn, our third prime minister, took a very strong and unbending stand against the petroleum multinational giant, Exxon (a leading member of the notorious “Seven Sisters”) during the negotiations which led to Petronas signing production-sharing contracts with Exxon and others, which substantially benefited Malaysia.

Hussein was magnificent in safeguarding our national interest.

Perhaps the prime minister who put Malaysia most on the world stage with bold and inspiring actions and declarations was our fourth prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Whether he was railing against Western imperialism, Zionism, or the actions of George Soros and the banking titans during the 1997 Financial Crisis, Mahathir’s principled actions were always carried out in pursuance of our national interest and in furtherance of our national pride.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad


His emphasis on South-South dialogue made him friends across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

When Mahathir was upset with criticisms from the British media, he imposed the “Buy British Last” policy for government procurement.

That was most effective, resulting in the thawing of relations between Margaret Thatcher and him. And then his “Look East” policy. No critic of Mahathir could accuse him of lacking courage in defending Malaysia’s national interest.

Thus, Malaysia was blessed by the brave leadership of our early prime ministers, who were assisted by top-calibre diplomats and civil servants from Wisma Putra, led by the ebullient Ghazali Shafie.

Meritocracy was the touchstone of our diplomatic service then, with the best and brightest of the civil service joining it.

Our founding fathers, followed by Hussein and Mahathir, never allowed Malaysia to be pushed about. We stood tall. We were never bullied.

It is against this courageous tradition of a small state punching well above its weight that one must consider the foreign policy of the Anwar Ibrahim administration as it nears three years in power.

The well-attended protest in the streets of Kuala Lumpur on July 26, 2025, is an accurate barometer of the unpopularity of Anwar.

The Turun Anwar rally on July 26


But what about Anwar’s foreign policy? Without doubt, he is the principal player: in addition to being prime minister, he is effectively the foreign minister.

One only needs to examine how Anwar has dealt with US President Donald Trump to see the seismic shift in our foreign policy. The world is being held hostage by Trump.

The US gone rogue is: “about a world turned upside down - a dark, fretful, more dangerous place where treaties and laws are no longer respected, alliances broken, trust fungible, principles negotiable and morality a dirty word. It’s an ugly, disordered world of raw power, brute force, selfish arrogance, dodgy deals and brazen lies.” Simon Tisdall: Observer, March 3, 2025.

So, what was Anwar’s response to the imposition of a 25 percent tariff on Malaysia, which constituted economic warfare? To achieve parity and fair trading, did he impose 25 percent tariff on US goods imported into Malaysia?

Of course, not. Malaysia immediately conducted negotiations with the US. The result: a pathetic six percentage point reduction, that is, a 19 percent tariff.

And at what price? Malaysia must purchase US$240 billion (more than RM1 trillion) worth of products or make investments, viz:

• US$150 billion in purchases by multinational companies in Malaysia’s semiconductor, aerospace, and data centre sectors over five years;

• US$70 billion in Malaysian investments in the US over 10 years;

• US$19 billion Boeing aircraft purchase by Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) for fleet renewal;

• US$3.4 billion per year in liquefied natural gas purchases (LNG) by Petronas;

• US$42.6 million per year in coal purchases by Tenaga Nasional Berhad;

• US$119 million in telecommunications product purchases by Telekom Malaysia.

Of the above, our promise to invest US$70 billion in the US is extraordinary, bearing in mind that currently our investments there are valued at US$43 billion.

This is a massive undertaking in a market that may not perform the best in the next decade. Returns on investments may be higher elsewhere.

Astonishingly, the prime minister also agreed to zero percent import duty on 98 percent of US goods imported into our country, represented by over 11,000 different items.

Did Anwar realise that in 2024, trade with the US was valued at RM325 billion, representing 11.3 percent of our trade?

Trade with China, our largest trading partner, was valued in 2024 at RM484 billion, that is, 16.8 percent of our trade.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Chinese President Xi Jinping

Our first four prime ministers (and Ismail, the best prime minister we never had) would have immediately retaliated by imposing a 25 percent tariff on the US. After all, that is what Canada, China, and Brazil did.

Of course, there would be immediate pain, our exporters would suffer, but they could, over time, diversify their market.

Slowly, but surely, the importance of the US market would diminish: there are alternative markets in China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Asean, India, EU., Britain, the Middle East, and even South America. Neither the US nor Trump is indispensable.

The disastrous nature of Anwar’s kowtowing to Trump was compounded by the fact that the US only took into account the balance of trade in goods.

Balance of payments between the two countries based on services was disregarded by the US in its mangled formula.

We exported services worth RM36 billion to the US in 2023, while the US exported RM76 billion to us, resulting in a deficit of RM40 billion for us.

Hence, Anwar did not protect and defend Malaysia’s national interest. He is guilty of appeasement of the narcissistic, authoritarian Trump.

When a muscular response is warranted, we get namby-pamby diplomacy. Anwar acted as a Neville Chamberlain when we needed a Winston Churchill.

Next, Anwar’s obsession with securing approval from Trump, as manifested by Anwar’s jubilation and glee in announcing that the leader dripping with blood on his hands is to visit Kuala Lumpur this October.

Let’s evaluate the US role in the Gaza Genocide from October 2023 and the Iran bombing in June 2025.


Gaza Genocide

More than 60,000 killed, including 18,000 children.

• The famine in Gaza, deliberately engineered by Israel, which has blocked aid for months on end, is the most severe hunger crisis the world has faced for decades.

• The UN estimates that approximately 92 percent of all residential buildings in Gaza - around 436,000 homes - have been damaged or destroyed since the genocide began.

• The Israeli bombing of Gaza is “equivalent to six Hiroshimas”.

• Israel’s war on Gaza has killed 232 journalists - an average of 13 per month - making it the deadliest conflict for media workers ever recorded.

• 534 schools, that is, 95 percent of the total, have been destroyed.

• 90 percent of Palestinians, that is, 1.9 million, have been displaced.

US support for Israel’s genocide

• Donald Trump has given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right government not only the green light to “clean out” Gaza and “finish the job”, but also the arms, intel and funds to do so. Trump also wishes to steal prime real estate in Gaza for profit.

• When Netanyahu launched his blockade of all food and aid going into Gaza in March, he emphasised it was done “in full coordination with President Trump and his people”.

• Since taking office, the Trump administration has approved nearly US$12 billion in major foreign military sales to Israel.

Iran bombing

• On June 13, 2025, Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran’s military, nuclear, and civilian sites, killing at least 935 people. The Iranian Health Ministry said 5,332 people were wounded.

• The attacks by Israel on Iran were illegal. The UN Charter prohibits the use of military force between states, except in extreme circumstances.

• There was no attack by Iran, or even the imminent threat of one, that could have justified a military response based on self-defence. The US military joined the attack, bombing three Nuclear sites in Iran.

The world rightly sees Israel as the primary aggressor in Gaza and Iran. But Trump, by aiding and abetting Israel by providing the means to murder and destroy on a massive industrial scale, is as morally, politically, and legally culpable as Netanyahu.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu


Has Anwar forgotten all the protests outside the US Embassy since October 2023 against direct US involvement in Gaza, followed by Iran?

He is betraying millions of Malaysians who are vigorously opposed to the Israeli and US wars of aggression against Palestinians and Iranians.

Malaysia cannot express solidarity with the Palestinians while welcoming in Kuala Lumpur the US president who supplied the arms and military hardware used to bomb Gaza into the Dark Ages.

The prime minister cannot hunt with the hounds and run with the hare.

It is never too late to do the right thing. Particularly when it concerns Trump, who changes his mind every few minutes.

The prime minister should immediately impose a 19 percent tariff on all US-imported goods and revoke his invitation to Trump to visit KL.

If other Asean nations are happy to toast the bloody autocrat, they should host him.

TOMMY THOMAS is former attorney-general.