Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia has a responsibility to serve as a bridge between major powers, reminding them that restraint and reciprocity are essential to maintaining peace and stability in Asia.
Delivering a lecture during his visit to China, Anwar said that while larger nations carry a particular responsibility in shaping the region’s openness and security, smaller states also have a vital role to play.
He said the region looks to Beijing not only for economic dynamism but also for confidence that Asia’s future will be open, stable and respectful of diversity
“Countries like Malaysia have their own duty: to act as bridges, to remind the larger powers that restraint and reciprocity are the anchors of peace,” he said in a public lecture at Tianjin University, the oldest modern university in China.
He also urged Asian nations to resist economic and political fragmentation, calling instead for “sovereign interdependence”, a framework that balances national sovereignty with openness to trade, investment, and cooperation.
“It is the conviction that nations can remain fully themselves, being sovereign in choice, in voice, and in destiny, while still being open to the flows of trade and investment, of talent and technology, on which prosperity depends,” he said.
Anwar yesterday began a four-day working visit to China at the invitation of Chinese president Xi Jinping to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, Anwar’s fourth visit to China since assuming office in November 2022.
Anwar is also scheduled to attend a parade in Tiananmen Square on Sept 3 to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
“The parade will carry many meanings. But beyond the spectacle, it should prompt us to ask whether we are doing enough to prevent the return of inevitability,” he said in his speech.
“The true measure of strength lies in how nations choose to step back from paths that would entrap them.”
