YOURSAY | PM should have been smarter, using diplomatic hedging.

PM backs China's right to use force on Taiwan, Taipei hits back with trade threat

Nada Villa: Malaysia does not need to choose between Beijing and Taipei.

We need trade, investment, stability and good relations with both. Our prime minister should therefore be defending peaceful resolution, not volunteering legitimacy for military coercion.

This dangerously poor judgment seems entirely an unnecessary escalation.

And there is a rather uncomfortable irony here. A leader who speaks so passionately about democracy, human rights and sovereignty should understand that “China has the right to use force” is not a neutral diplomatic observation. It is a political endorsement of coercion.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim needs to remember: Malaysia is not China’s spokesperson.

Our foreign policy should be Malaysia first, not whatever happens to please the powerful country in the room.

EmEmKay: Malaysia recognised the People’s Republic of China in 1974, and every government since - including Anwar's - has upheld the One China policy.

The real break is that Anwar went beyond the usual formula to endorse China's "right to use force", which previous leaders deliberately avoided.

My worry is that Taiwan is a major investor in Penang's semiconductor sector - precisely the back-end ecosystem Malaysia wants to expand - and Taipei has threatened trade consequences. A chill in those ties could slow Malaysia's chip ambitions.

Taiwan's dominance is in leading-edge fabrication, and the threat cuts both ways - China is Malaysia's largest trading partner, and Taiwanese firms also need Malaysia as tariff-neutral ground.

Anwar should have been smarter, using diplomatic hedging: reaffirm One China, stay silent on the use of force, keep Taiwanese investment welcome.

GSVL: Indeed. Since when has it been Malaysian foreign policy to condone the use of force as a means of resolving a dispute?

For example, are we going to support North Korea if they attack South Korea under the pretext of reunification of the Korean peninsula?

Will we condone India if they attack Pakistan and Bangladesh to restore the pre-1947 India?

Will we support Russia in its war to retake Ukraine since the latter broke away from the Soviet Union?

While we, like the majority of the world, recognise the One China policy, we have always maintained strategic ambiguity on whether or not China is entitled to use force to reunify Taiwan with the mainland.

Anwar seems to have forgotten his history. Go back to pre-1945 China and then study how the issue of Taiwan arose after the Communists defeated the Nationalists on the mainland in 1945.

In fact, until the 1970s, most of the world, including the UN, only recognised the Republic of China as the legitimate government of China, although its authority was only limited to Taiwan.

Why is Anwar trying to rewrite history? As for Malaysia, it is entirely possible for Sabah and Sarawak to leave the federation just like Singapore did in 1965. The right to self-determination cannot be suppressed by force.

If Anwar thinks otherwise, then even Israel is justified in its occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip based on the de facto situation from 1948 right up to now.

Anwar should be more guarded in his comments. He loves to shoot off his mouth without thinking of the consequences.

Leave such sensitive foreign policy issues to the experts in Wisma Putra.

Francis T Rozario: Anwar should have remained silent. In backing China's use of force in Taiwan, he is also backing the use of force in China, claiming our territorial waters and what lies below.

Is he doing this in desperation to win Chinese votes, or is he just plain dumb, shooting from the hip without all the due consideration?

He opens his mouth too frequently without applying any thought to what he says. Too many times, he makes statements that put us in a bad spot.

These kinds of statements must be made by consensus with Asean, as it affects the entire bloc, or not made at all.

BrownJaguar5869: I support Anwar because foreign policy is not about choosing who we like or don’t like. It is about protecting Malaysia's interests in a very complicated world.

Malaysia’s One China policy didn’t start with Anwar. It has been our position for decades. But at the same time, we want peace, stability and good economic relations with everyone, including Taiwan.

You don’t have to agree with every word Anwar says to understand the bigger picture. Diplomacy is complicated. It is not coffee shop talk where everything is black and white.

As prime minister, you must think about Malaysia. That is the leadership I will support.

DonGetMeWrong: Whether Anwar supports China to use force in unifying Taiwan or not is immaterial. If China one fine day decided to take Taiwan, no nation can stop it.

US can talk; they will assist Taiwan, but does the US want to risk their military against China?

China can just walk over Taiwan before the US can react. US already has too many geopolitical issues on its hands. Not all Taiwanese are against China unification. Only those bent on sowing hatred against China are in disagreement.

Milshah: Malaysia needs to be in good books with China, that much is true, but do we really need to make that statement to please China, when we already are?

What damage can it cause if Malaysia says to remain neutral and not interfere in other countries' affairs? Am I missing something here? If not, a simple, safe neutral statement about other countries' affairs is sufficient.

YellowCondor6925: Our prime minister should stop poking his nose into the affairs of other countries. It would be better to keep his mouth shut and leave this matter to China and Taiwan to resolve.

Instead of making such statements, he should be more concerned about the lives of innocent people.

If a war breaks out, ordinary people will be the ones who suffer the most. I simply cannot understand why he is making such comments without considering the potential consequences.

My dear friend, you are really starting to talk rubbish. Please think about the impact of your words before making such statements.

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