KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — Malaysia should continue working closely with both the United States (US) and China while pursuing a policy of active non-alignment amid rivalry between the two major powers, said the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia.
Its executive chairman Datuk Prof Dr Mohd Faiz Abdullah said both countries played crucial roles in Malaysia’s trade and investment landscape and were deeply woven into the country’s economic system.
“It is not a question of whether we can; we must work closely with both,” he said in an interview with Bernama World on the sidelines of PRAXIS 2026, ISIS Malaysia’s flagship public policy conference, here Tuesday.
The interview, titled “Malaysia’s Reform Agenda: Delivering Growth and Confidence”, was aired on Bernama World, the national news agency’s international current affairs programme featuring interviews and discussions on global issues, on Wednesday.
Mohd Faiz said Malaysia’s foreign policy approach should be described as active non-alignment rather than neutrality, as the country remained actively engaged in geopolitical and geo-economic affairs.
“We do not want to use the word neutral; we want to use the word active non-aligned. Neutral seems to imply static, not doing things, not getting involved.
“We are very much involved on the geo-economic side, on the geopolitical side,” he said.
On Malaysia’s engagement with BRICS, Mohd Faiz said the grouping was more closely associated with the Global South and was sometimes perceived as anti-Western, a characterisation he said “was wrong”.
He said Malaysia had longstanding cultural, people-to-people, political and economic ties with China, while the US remained important in terms of qualitative foreign direct investment, particularly amid technological transformation.
Mohd Faiz said Malaysia could also serve as a bridge between major powers and the Global South through an open foreign policy that allowed the country to take principled positions while continuing to engage with different partners.
BRICS is a grouping of emerging and developing economies that aims to enhance cooperation in political, economic and financial matters among its members.
He cited Malaysia’s position on Palestine and Gaza, saying Kuala Lumpur had been strongly critical of countries including the US while at the same time maintaining strong diplomatic and economic relations with them.
He said this reflected Malaysia’s position as a middle power that is highly reliant on trade and foreign relations.
“We deal with all parties on an even keel using the basic standards that we have: rules-based free trade, rules-based equal partnership in terms of mutual respect, the question of interoperability, the question of interdependence,” he said.
Meanwhile, the executive chairman also pointed to Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship in 2025 and the ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-China engagement as an example of the country bringing together different regions and economies.
“The idea is to show how Malaysia is able to promote that sense of dynamism, making use of all the regional strengths of the various entities and various economies,” he said.
Looking ahead, he said Malaysia should not merely follow developments in the international arena but also chart a course on issues including climate change, sustainability, and inclusivity, while playing a strong and progressive role within ASEAN.
He added that Malaysia’s international economic engagement should ultimately translate into tangible benefits for the domestic economy and the people.
Since 2011, PRAXIS has convened policymakers, the private sector, civil society and academia to engage in topics of national interest.
