March 04, 2015
Playing It Safe: Malaysia's Approach to the South China Sea and Implications for the United States
In this sixth paper in the Maritime Strategy Series, Prashanth Parameswaran, Associate Editor at The Diplomat, visiting fellow at the ASEAN Studies Center at American University, and a PhD candidate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, takes up how Malaysia’s approach to the South China Sea has – or has not – changed in the face of China’s increased pressure on fellow claimants. Parameswaran concludes, based on documentary research and conversations with officials, that Kuala Lumpur maintains a basically constant “playing it safe” approach with respect to Beijing and the South China Sea. He lays out the constituent drivers of Malaysia’s “special relationship” with China, including the underappreciated fact that China has seemingly left Malaysia’s offshore oil and gas production in the South China Sea unmolested, despite attempts to punish Vietnam and the Philippines for similar activities. Nevertheless, the increasing temperature of Beijing’s efforts to advance its expansive claims has spurred Malaysia to invest in amphibious and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities – areas ripe for greater quiet cooperation between Malaysia and the United States. He also lays out additional vectors of effort for U.S.-Malaysia partnership, especially during the latter’s 2015 chairmanship of ASEAN. Overall, the paper usefully describes a country that is hewing close to a relationship that has long benefited it, while acknowledging that trends are not necessarily favorable and hedging modestly as a result.
Author
-
Prashanth Parameswaran
More from CNAS
-
China Presses a Weakness in America’s Tech Policy
Commentary
America’s semiconductor strategy now must confront not only who controls the factories, tools, and materials required to make chips, but also who controls the language those c...
By David Feith
-
CNAS Insights | Japan isn’t rearming. It’s adapting to a new era.
CNAS Insights
Japan’s defense posture is changing and changing fast. Military spending has increased sharply over the past four years. Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF) are acquiring long-r...
By Richard Fontaine
-
Tale as Old as Time: Security, Strategy, and U.S.-ASEAN Statecraft
Video
Everyone wants the U.S. race car. Who's willing to wait for it? On this month's episode of Bottom Line with USABC, President & CEO Amb. Brian McFeeters sits down with Lindsey ...
By Lindsey Ford
-
Sorry, Europe: Trump Has Found Better Allies in Asia
Commentary
Trump may think his European partners are not worth more than a few days of summitry. He cannot think the same about the U.S.’s golden allies in Asia....
By Derek Grossman
