25-5-2024 (KUALA LUMPUR) Malaysia’s outspoken former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday downplayed the need to directly challenge China’s sweeping territorial claims in the South China Sea, arguing it is more crucial to avoid open conflict with the regional powerhouse led by its “ambitious” President Xi Jinping.
Speaking at the annual Future of Asia conference in the Japanese capital, the 97-year-old statesman adopted a pragmatic tone on the contentious maritime dispute that has stoked tensions between China and several Southeast Asian nations with competing claims.
“You can claim” the South China Sea, Mahathir said in a fireside chat. “We don’t have to go to war against you because of your claim.” He emphasized that as long as China’s stance does not inflict physical harm or undermine Malaysia’s own maritime claims, there is no pressing issue to address militarily.
“We just want to live in peace among ourselves and with our trading partners,” he stated.
Mahathir argued that while China has made expansive claims to nearly the entire South China Sea, it has not actively impeded freedom of navigation or economic activities like Malaysia’s oil and gas operations in the disputed waters. “So far they haven’t done anything,” he said. “Maybe one day, they will realize that the claim means nothing.”
The veteran leader’s stance could be viewed as contradicting the official position of Malaysia’s government, which has rejected China’s sweeping maritime claims as violating international law. However, Mahathir was firm that the regional bloc of Southeast Asian nations cannot afford to confront their economic benefactor to the north.
“China is a big market. We cannot lose that market,” he stressed, warning that if ASEAN states “take sides, we are going to lose either the American market or the Chinese market.”
Mahathir acknowledged that under President Xi’s leadership, China has grown more assertive in pursuing its strategic interests. “Xi Jinping seems to be more ambitious and more aggressive,” he remarked. However, he suggested this stance could change when Xi eventually departs, noting “China has gone through many changes because of the changes in the leaders.”
The outspoken elder statesman, who served twice as Malaysia’s prime minister between 1981-2003 and 2018-2020, reiterated his long-held view that ASEAN should remain neutral amid the intensifying US-China rivalry, including over the issue of Taiwan.
Mahathir blamed Washington for provoking Beijing, citing the visits by US officials to Taiwan as unnecessarily inflaming tensions. “Unfortunately, America likes to see a confrontation between Taiwan and China. For us, there is no necessity,” he argued.
With Donald Trump potentially returning to the White House after next year’s US presidential election, Mahathir believes ASEAN neutrality will become even more crucial. “He is going to think about America first, to bring back a greater America…But do not harm other people,” he warned.
