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Malaysia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' 2025 chair, announced that it is seeking a summit with the United States to address the bloc's concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed 25% tariffs on automobiles, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, Reuters reported on Feb. 20.

ASEAN, U.S.: Chair Malaysia Seeks Summit With Washington on Tariffs

China

Indonesia

Malaysia announced plans to reform its anti-dumping legislation to counter an influx of cheap Chinese goods, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 17.

Malaysia, Indonesia: Chinese Dumping Undermines Regional Trade Amid Growing Economic Pressure

Europe

Malaysia and the European Union will likely reopen suspended free trade agreement negotiations when Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim visits Brussels, Belgium, the week of Jan. 20, Politico reported on Jan. 15. 

EU, Malaysia: Dormant Free Trade Negotiations Likely To Resume

Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba began a four-day trip to Malaysia and Indonesia, where he will hold separate summits with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Indonesian President Subianto Prabowo, The Japan Times reported Jan. 9.

Japan: Prime Minister Seeks Trade, Defense Upgrades in Visits to Malaysia and Indonesia 

Military & Security

Malaysian National Security Council Director-General Raja Nushirwan Zainal Abidin announced plans to modernize his country's navy and air force to safeguard its maritime domain, including in the South China Sea, while still emphasizing dialogue and diplomacy with other claimants, namely China, The Straits Times reported on Dec. 19. 

Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur To Strengthen Territorial Defense in South China Sea

South Korea

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol signed a strategic partnership emphasizing cooperation in defense and critical minerals with a roadmap to complete a free trade agreement by 2025, Yonhap News Agency reported on Nov. 25.

South Korea, Malaysia: Countries Upgrade Ties to Strategic Partnership

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The BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, adopted its summit declaration, which noted the creation of a BRICS "partner country" status, Reuters reported on Oct. 23.

BRICS: Bloc Creates Partner Status, Extends Status to 13 Countries

The European Commission revealed on Oct. 2 that it would propose a delay of 12 months for its deforestation regulation -- due to come into force on Dec. 30 -- which requires companies importing goods like beef, soy and palm oil to map supply chains down to the raw material level to reduce deforestation, Nikkei Asia reported on Oct. 3.

EU, Malaysia, Indonesia: Deforestation Law Delay Offers Reprieve to Palm Oil

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Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hold a joint press conference on Jan. 10, 2025.

U.S.-China Relations

Japan is intensifying its diplomatic and security engagement in Southeast Asia through defense, trade and infrastructure agreements to counterbalance China and enhance regional stability.

Ishiba Strengthens Japan's Role in Southeast Asia With Defense and Trade Deals

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U.S. President Joe Biden gestures to reporters after landing on the South Lawn of the White House on Sept. 22, 2024, in Washington, D.C. 

Trump's more aggressive and transactional approach could deliver quick wins for the U.S.'s position in the region, though it could also strain ties with key partners. 

Trump's Asia-Pacific Approach Will Test Biden's Gains

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Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (center) and other ASEAN leaders take part in the 2024 ASEAN summit in Vientiane on Oct. 9, 2024. 

The deals signed at the summit reflect an increasing focus on economic integration amid the Southeast Asian bloc's continued failure to find consensus on security issues.

Reviewing the 2024 ASEAN Summit

The flags of ASEAN members are displayed at a naval base during the ASEAN Solidarity Exercise in Batam, Natuna regency, Riau Islands province, Indonesia, on Sept. 20, 2023. 

ASEAN's economic and geopolitical diversity will impede significant progress toward deeper integration, despite members' intention to collaborate more closely.

Economic and Geopolitical Diversity Hinders ASEAN's Path to Deeper Integration

The main dome of the Malaysian prime minister's office in Putrajaya is seen on June 4, 2024. 

A bigger parliamentary majority will enhance the government's staying power, freeing it to more avidly pursue its plans to attract foreign investment, among other policy initiatives.

Political Stability Will Help Malaysia Hit Its Economic and Foreign Policy Goals

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President Cyril Ramaphosa is sworn in as member of parliament during the first sitting of the new South African parliament on June 14 in Cape Town, South Africa. Ramaphosa will be inaugurated to a second term in a ceremony scheduled to take place June 19 in Pretoria.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Ukraine's Peace Summit, South Africa's Inauguration

An aerial photo taken on Sept. 25, 2022, shows solar panels at the Sao Mai solar energy plant in Vietnam’s An Giang province. 

Energy

Several ASEAN countries are on track to develop substantial renewable power capacities in the short term, but technical, political and financial constraints, coupled with incentives to keep burning fossil fuels, will impede long-term decarbonization goals.

The Challenges Facing Southeast Asia's Decarbonization

Malaysia's experienced workforce and neutral status in the U.S.-China rivalry will continue to draw interest to its chip sector, but the country will struggle to move up the value chain.

Malaysia's Place in the Race for Semiconductor Business

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a speech at the gala dinner for the ASEAN-Japan commemorative summit in Tokyo on Dec. 17, 2023. 

Over the next year, Tokyo will provide ASEAN countries with military equipment and more infrastructure investment, which will raise threat perceptions and further deteriorate Japan's ties with China.

The Implications of Japan's Growing Interest in Southeast Asia

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) delivers an opening address at the start of a bilateral meeting with Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (L) at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 16, 2023.

Laos' vulnerabilities will weaken its ASEAN chairmanship, although the bloc's economic interconnectivity will likely continue to grow.

Laos' Limitations Portend a Lukewarm Year for ASEAN

Malaysian Muslim activists and Palestinian nationals gather to express solidarity with the people of Palestine as they march toward the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Oct. 13, 2023. 

Prime Minister Anwar's ardent backing of the Palestinian militant group will help pacify his government's pro-Islam factions, but it may come at the cost of reduced foreign investment and U.S. sanctions.

The Drivers and Risks of Malaysia's Vocal Support of Hamas 

Snapshots

Rare earth elements. Malaysia's recently announced plan to ban exports of rare earth elements is the latest example of the deepening regional trend of resource nationalism.

Malaysia's move will negatively impact its international partners in the sector, but give Malaysia a strategic advantage in the marketplace.

With a Rare Earth Ban, Malaysia Is Poised to Join the Regional Resource Nationalism Trend

Malaysia straddles Southeast Asia's key geopolitical divide, between the mainland and the archipelago. Peninsular Malaysia occupies the southernmost tip of Southeast Asia's Malay Peninsula. East Malaysia, however, is on the island of Borneo, over 600 kilometers away across the South China Sea.       Peninsular Malaysia is defined by north-south mountain ranges flanked by coastal lowlands. The nation's core is its west coast from Penang to Johor Bahru, including the capital, Kuala Lumpur. This coastline fronts major east-west trade routes through the Malacca Strait, whose shores are divided between Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Malaysia's primary geographic challenge is to secure this coastline in order to extract revenue from east-west trade. Today, Malaysia's substantial manufacturing center is concentrated in this core region. Johor Bahru also benefits from proximity to Singapore, which left Malaysia in 1965.        Malaysia's ethnic minority Indian and Chinese communities are also concentrated in the core, comprising 30 percent of the population. These groups wield outsized economic power and form the basis of the political opposition. Their population growth is slower than the ethnic Malay majority, creating an increasingly volatile political environment.      East Malaysia makes up 60 percent of the country’s landmass but has only 20 percent of the population. This sparse population is tipped toward the ethnic Malays and is growing in electoral significance. East Malaysia is playing a growing role in energy production — key to sustaining the country’s decades of steady economic growth.     Borneo also fronts the South China Sea, where Malaysia's maritime claims overlap with the claims of the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam and China. As Borneo's offshore fields become more important to Malaysia, the nation's South China Sea claims could bring it into conflict.  

Modernizing China’s Military

Asia-Pacific: Among Great Powers

Southeast Asia: Burdened by Consensus

SITUATION REPORTS

ASEAN, U.S.: Chair Malaysia Seeks Summit With Washington on Tariffs

Malaysia, Indonesia: Chinese Dumping Undermines Regional Trade Amid Growing Economic Pressure

EU, Malaysia: Dormant Free Trade Negotiations Likely To Resume

Japan: Prime Minister Seeks Trade, Defense Upgrades in Visits to Malaysia and Indonesia

Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur To Strengthen Territorial Defense in South China Sea

South Korea, Malaysia: Countries Upgrade Ties to Strategic Partnership

BRICS: Bloc Creates Partner Status, Extends Status to 13 Countries

EU, Malaysia, Indonesia: Deforestation Law Delay Offers Reprieve to Palm Oil

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