Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has called for a common Asean defence and security policy to strengthen the bloc’s ability to deal with powers such as the United States and China.
Mahathir said differing national policies among Asean members have weakened the organisation’s ability to protect its collective interests.
“As Asean we are stronger because we represent 10—now 11—countries with 600 million people. Our words carry much more weight.
“But when each country tries to deal with problems on its own, it becomes weaker,” he said in an interview with FMT.
Mahathir noted that some member states have chosen to align themselves with superpowers, citing the “pro-America” position adopted by Singapore and the Philippines.
“Our policy is no longer united, and that has weakened us,” he said. “When we negotiate with the US, we do so as individual countries rather than as Asean. Because of that, we end up giving in to their demands.”
Responding to a question on whether Asean should adopt a defence framework similar to Nato, the North Atlantic alliance, Mahathir said that greater cooperation on security matters would enable the region to respond more effectively to territorial incursions and geopolitical pressure.
“If we are together, we can have a strong policy to deal with both Chinese and American incursions,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we don’t work together—we act separately.”
He cited examples of how China has treated individual Asean nations unequally in the South China Sea disputes, noting that Malaysia’s claim over Pulau Layang-Layang has not been directly challenged, while the Philippines has faced encroachment at Commodore Reef.
“That shows that when you are not working together, you get treated differently because of your weakness,” he said.
Mahathir’s comments come amid renewed tensions in the South China Sea, where overlapping territorial claims have led to repeated confrontations involving Chinese vessels and several Asean member states.
Analysts say that while Asean has made progress in fostering regional stability since its founding in 1967, the absence of a unified security policy continues to limit its influence in global geopolitics.
Asean’s current security approach is based on a cooperative framework known as the Asean political-security community, which emphasises peaceful resolution of disputes and non-interference in the internal affairs of member states.
Malaysia hosted the annual Asean defence ministers’ meeting from Oct 30 to Nov 2.
Defence minister Khaled Nordin had said several Asean maritime exercises will be approved during the meeting, including joint drills with the US, China, India and South Korea.
