Why President Trump is bad for freedom ... in Malaysia
Civil activists in the country enjoyed US support under Obama, but the incoming president’s anti-China stance may require him to turn a blind eye to Najib’s domestic agenda
After eight years with an influential friend in the White House, Malaysian civil society groups are bracing for the worst when Donald Trump takes over on January 20.
During outgoing President Barack Obama’s two terms, human rights advocates, democracy groups and anti-corruption activists had cultivated warm relations with US officials in Kuala Lumpur, even meeting the 44th US president on his visit to the capital last year – the first by any sitting US president.
In that time, Washington’s tacit support for their causes had been a crucial morale booster during a period of regular clampdowns by the administration of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who himself was eager to curry favour with the US leader.
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But now they fear a shift in US priorities by a Trump administration that is likely to view Malaysian civil liberties as of relatively low diplomatic priority. Or even worse, that a US, which no longer champions democracy and human rights, might provide moral cover for Najib to further suppress freedoms.
Friendlier relations with Malaysia had been prized by Obama, who saw them as playing into his “pivot to Asia” strategy and aggressive promotion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). But Trump has indicated he will scrap both policies, throwing the relationship into question.
Under Obama, the US had taken a nuanced approach to Malaysia, with Washington engaging with Malaysian activists critical of Najib even as the two heads of state cultivated a personal relationship. Najib even boasted of playing golf with Obama in 2014 and of riding in his limousine, ‘the Beast’, in 2015.
Indeed, it was the personal connection between Obama and Najib that made Washington’s support of Malaysian activists and opposition parties so significant, said Wong Chin Huat, a political scientist at the Penang Institute.
