What’s Malaysia’s stance on the South China Sea? Latest remarks raise potential shift

Tensions between China and the Philippines have escalated in recent months, leading to clashes in the disputed area, including an “intentional-high speed ramming” by a Chinese Coast Guard ship on June 17, in which a Filipino sailor suffered serious injury.

Sharon Seah, coordinator of the Asean Studies Centre at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said there was great “frustration” from the Philippines at the drafting of last week’s ministerial meeting joint communique as Manila’s attempts to reflect the ramming incident were rejected by Asean, particularly Cambodia and the Asean chair Laos.

“[Manila] would certainly appreciate more support from its fellow claimant states, if not from Asean in general, in calling out behaviours that put persons’ safety at risk,” Seah said.

There are concerns that Malaysia’s soft stance on the South China Sea, which contradicts the Philippines’ position, may become more pronounced during its chairmanship of Asean in 2025, Seah said.

“This has brought into question whether Malaysia’s neutral foreign policy stance is changing under the Anwar government,” she said.

China has been Malaysia’s largest and most important trading partner since 2009 with total trade valued at US$98.9 billion in 2023. During Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s visit to Malaysia in June, several bilateral agreements were signed, including a new five-year deal on economic and trade cooperation.

Seah added that defenders of Malaysia’s foreign policy perceived Kuala Lumpur as “taking a non-confrontational approach to the South China Sea, and there is no need to add to the temperatures there”.

“Others say that Malaysia’s approach is because Malaysian boats and personnel have not been on the receiving end of aggression,” she said.

Izzah Khairina Ibrahim, an analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) in Malaysia, said while Hasan’s comments might appear to be aligned with China’s wishes, the overall Malaysian statement is in line with the Malaysian government position.

Officially, Malaysia maintains that South China Sea issues must be resolved peacefully through existing platforms and diplomatic channels, and that disputes and the use of force should be avoided.

On whether Kuala Lumpur’s position might affect Asean unity, Izzah said “immediate destabilising effects” were not expected, adding that due to the lack of a coordinated approach by claimant states to the South China Sea issue, Malaysia’s actions or inaction might still be seen as the choice of an individual state.

“However, like many other issues plaguing [Asean], the issue still retains the potential to be another factor in fracturing the institution if left unattended”, she warned.

Noting that Asean chairmanship carried expectations of major decisions and outcomes by external observers, Izzah said such expectations needed to be “tampered to account for the realities of these countries’ capacity and the roles granted by [Asean]”, Izzah said

“To avoid setting it up for a disappointing appraisal after each term, there needs to be better understanding about its roles and functions,” she added.

It is expected that the chair of Asean, which rotates annually, will promote the interests and well-being of the group and establish an effective and timely response to urgent issues or crises affecting Asean, according to Article 32 of its Charter.

In this year’s Southeast Asia survey by ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, 77 per cent of 2000 Southeast Asian polled expressed concerns that a “slow and ineffective” Asean will be unable to cope with fluid political and economic developments.