In a recent exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim made a rare firm statement on Taiwan's sovereignty and Beijing's non-commitment to give up the use of force against Taiwan. He even compared his country's provinces to "using force" if they attempt to secession. The remarks quickly ignited diplomatic sparks between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and Kuala Lumpur.
It is worth noting that although Malaysia has long adhered to the "One China" policy since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1974, successive Malaysian prime ministers have tried their best to avoid touching the sensitive issue of mainland China's possible military reunification of Taiwan. Anwar's statement was regarded as a major breakthrough and first in the history of Malaysia's diplomacy, and thus caused huge controversy.
Explaining the logic of using force with "anti-separatism"
In an exclusive video interview released by Al Jazeera on August 16, Anwar gave an extremely direct and firm statement when faced with the host's questioning on the complexities of cross-strait relations and history.
Anwar emphasized his support for "One China" in the interview. When the host questioned why Beijing continued to emphasize "unification" if the two sides of the Taiwan Strait were originally one, Anwar interrupted directly and pointed out: "(That's because of the US Navy's Seventh Fleet, honey. That's why they talk about reunification." With this, he directly pointed to the historical intervention of US military power as the root cause of the long-term division of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Later, when asked what he thought of China's stance on not promising to give up the use of force in resolving the Taiwan issue, and whether Malaysia would condemn this stance, Anwar asked: "If a province (Malaysia) decides to separate, will we use force? I think I will protect the integrity and unity of the country."
When the host then asked if this meant "force would be used", Anwar gave an affirmative answer: "Yes, otherwise the country will be torn apart."
Anwar: "I regard Taiwan as part of China, full stop"
Anwar firmly reiterated his geopolitical position in the interview: "I regard Taiwan as part of China, period." He believes that although people may have different opinions on this, all discussions must be conducted within the generally accepted context of "One China." He also accused the outside world of being extremely "hypocritical" and double-standard on the Taiwan issue, criticizing the international community for not paying attention to the division issues in many European countries, the United States, Africa and other parts of the world, but "only focusing on China."
Anwar emphasized that supporting Taiwan's secession is actually "condoning attempts to split a legitimate independent country" and he will never compromise on this.
Taipei strongly condemns, Beijing highly appreciates
After Anwar's Taiwan-related statements were made public, they immediately aroused strong protests from Taiwan. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement severely condemning and refuting Anwar's "false remarks that derogatory to Taiwan's sovereignty."
Taiwan pointed out that Anwar absurdly insinuated Taiwan as China's "separatist province" and openly rationalized Beijing's position of reunification by force. This move not only seriously endangered regional peace and stability, but also violated Anwar's own image as a "defender of democracy and human rights" for many years. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that Taiwan, the Republic of China, is a sovereign and independent country and is not affiliated with the People's Republic of China. Taiwan warned that Anwar's "one-sided support for China" political manipulation will seriously damage the long-term political mutual trust between Taiwan and Malaysia, and may have a negative impact on Taiwanese businessmen's confidence in investing in Malaysia.
Compared with Taiwan's fierce response, the Malaysian government is trying to downplay the controversy. His government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil revealed at a regular press conference on the 19th that the cabinet did not discuss Anwar’s Taiwan-related remarks.
In stark contrast to Taipei's anger, Beijing expressed high praise for Anwar's remarks. In response to relevant inquiries at a regular press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that China appreciates Prime Minister Anwar's statement. Lin Jian reiterated that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an integral part of China's territory. He emphasized: "China must be reunified and will be reunified. This is an unchangeable historical trend."
The “historical turn” in foreign policy
Behind this diplomatic controversy is the evolution of Malaysia's cross-strait and China policies over the past decades. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Malaysian government headed by Tunku Abdul Rahman needed to rely on the West on the one hand, and on the other hand it had defense and political needs. Therefore, it refused to recognize the People's Republic of China for a long time and maintained consular-level relations with the Republic of China that moved to Taiwan. However, with the changes in the geopolitical landscape, Malaysia terminated its consular relations with the Republic of China in 1974 and officially established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. The country thus became the first ASEAN member to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing.
Judging from the relationship between Taiwan and Malaysia, although there have been no official diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Malaysia since 1974, the two sides have extremely deep substantive exchanges at the economic, trade and people-to-people levels. In terms of economic and trade cooperation, the total trade volume between Taiwan and Malaysia has exceeded US$57 billion in 2025. Both sides use integrated circuits as their main mutual import and export items, and they have profound industrial complementarity.
The Malaysian government has always recognized the government of the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate government of China. However, previous prime ministers have always adopted a moderate attitude and avoided touching military red lines in their stance on Taiwan. Anwar's public use of the logic of using force to prevent secession in his country's provinces has been applied to cross-strait issues. This is unprecedented in Malaysia's Taiwan-related diplomatic stance, and shows that the Anwar government's current independent diplomatic posture is clearly tilted towards Beijing.
