Separately, veteran Democratic Action Party politician Teng Chang Kim called on the Malaysian government to clarify the terms of its deal with the US, especially those that appear to favour the superpower.
Among the disputed clauses was one that purportedly allows the US to reimpose a 25 per cent tariff on Malaysia should the Southeast Asian country strike a bilateral trade deal with any nation considered to jeopardise US interests, the Jakarta Globe reported.
FMT reported Tengku Zafrul as saying that Putrajaya is only obligated to impose restrictions on other countries to address economic or national security concerns “shared” by both countries.
“This means that if a certain issue only affects the economic or national security of the US but has no impact on Malaysia’s economic or national security, we do not need to consider (emulating the US),” he said.
Separately, US Ambassador to Malaysia Edgard Kagan on Monday stressed that Malaysia did not surrender its economic sovereignty by signing the trade deal with his country, pointing out that the agreement was “extraordinarily beneficial to both countries”.
On Tuesday, Anwar said that the signing of economic cooperation agreements between Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and strategic partners underscores the bloc’s role in forging centrality.
“If we are scared of the US, how is it possible that we sign (a deal) with China a day after Trump returns. That is not possible … To me, the decisions we make are those that protect the country’s image and serve the national interest, economically, in terms of investment, and most importantly, in bringing benefits to the people,” he said during a press conference after the closing ceremony of the 47th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-us-trade-deal-sovereignty-criticism-tengku-zafrul-asean-5431891
