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Malaysia urged to follow Philippines’ lead and get tougher with Beijing over South China Sea claims
- Toshi Yoshihara, an American expert on China’s military, called for Malaysia to reject Beijing’s ‘excessive claims’ over the disputed waters
- Prioritising short-term trade benefits instead of addressing the territorial conflict could cost Malaysia dearly in the long run, he argues
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Malaysia should take a more proactive approach to defending its rights in the South China Sea, an American expert on China who has advised the Pentagon warned – urging the Southeast Asian nation to reject Beijing’s “excessive claims” over the disputed waters and protect its own long-term strategic goals.
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Prioritising short-term trade benefits poses serious risks that could ultimately result in greater long-term costs, said Toshi Yoshihara, a senior fellow at the Washington -based Centre for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments think tank who has written extensively on China’s military and maritime policy.
He said these costs could come in various forms, from economic penalties to loss of territorial integrity and increased regional instability, undermining Malaysia’s national interests and security.
“Accommodating China is basically paying later with extra penalties, and frequently the penalty will come in the form of blood, sweat and tears,” Yoshihara told This Week in Asia on Monday, a day before he was expected to brief the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College’s National Centre for Defence Studies on the same topic.
The resource-rich waters of the South China Sea are claimed by Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Vietnam. China’s claims over the disputed waters, demarcated on Beijing’s maps by its “nine dash line”, crosses into all of these countries’ exclusive economic zones.
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