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Malaysia has embarked on a quest for structural transformation to revitalise the country’s pace of economic growth.

Strengthening the economic relationship between Malaysia and China can potentially contribute towards Malaysia’s structural transformation in terms of re-industrialisation and greening of its economy.

A significant challenge of leveraging a strengthened Malaysia-China economic relationship for structural transformation will be the constraints arising from the US – China geopolitical rivalry.

This challenge will differ across industries. Some will require adaptation to new trade regulations (in electrical machinery and electronics), while others call for further market diversification (solar) and greater regional integration of their supply chain (electric vehicle).

There are distinct divisions in Thailand between Muslim communities, particularly the Malay Muslims in the southernmost provinces, and the mainstream Thai population. These contribute to a spectrum of political ideologies that carry significant domestic and international implications.

As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict drags on, divergent views in Thailand on the issue continue to grow. This is most obvious between views held by the broader Thai population on the one hand, and those held by Thai Muslims, especially those who are Malay Muslims from the country’s southernmost provinces, on the other.

Although the Thai government voted in favour of an immediate humanitarian ceasefire at the United Nations General Assembly meeting on December 12, Thai netizens have expressed contrary views on the matter on social media. Conversations with officials from international organisations based in Thailand also suggest that many Thai authorities collaborating with them tend to demonstrate solidarity with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

While many Thais and media outlets focus on the demise of Thai workers on October 7, the 172 deaths of Thai workers in Moshav and Kibbutz in Israel over the years should be given attention as well. 

The Thai government will need to exercise greater sensitivity in its foreign policy towards Israel and Palestine, bearing in mind the unrest in the southernmost provinces of Thailand. It is crucial that it avoids inciting resentment among the Malay Muslims. 

In the past decade, Vietnam and the United States have incrementally strengthened security cooperation across various areas, including maritime security, defence sales, search and rescue, humanitarian and disaster relief, war legacy issues, and peacekeeping.

Hanoi and Washington have pledged to enhance and broaden their security relations under the recently established comprehensive strategic partnership (CSP).

Several conducive factors support the advancement of Vietnam-U.S. security cooperation in the upcoming years. These include growing strategic convergence, a deepening network of shared defence partners, and Vietnam’s military modernization efforts.

However, sudden leaps or dramatic breakthroughs in Vietnam-U.S. security cooperation are unlikely due to certain constraints. These include Vietnam’s cautious approach, defence cooperation not being the top priority under the CSP, defence interoperability gaps, and lingering trust deficits.

Therefore, despite the recent upgrade in diplomatic status, Vietnam-U.S. security cooperation has not reached a new level. Nonetheless, expanded defence collaboration in soft areas could help overcome some of the existing constraints and advance mutual strategic interests.

The China-Philippines Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) was established in May 2017 for discussing issues of mutual concern in the South China Sea and exploring possible areas of cooperation, especially in oil and gas development. It was intended as a confidence-building measure and to show how China can cooperate with Southeast Asian claimant states.

However, after eight rounds of meetings, the BCM has yet to embark on any oil and gas joint development. Despite some initial progress, cooperation in this area has stalled, due primarily to constitutional and legal constraints on both sides.

The 2023 ruling by the Philippine Supreme Court, which declared that the 2005-2008 Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking involving companies from China, the Philippines and Vietnam was unconstitutional, has made it more challenging for Beijing and Manila to achieve a breakthrough in joint oil and gas development.

China’s actions to prevent the Philippines from conducting oil and gas activities in the Philippines’ EEZ and Continental Shelf have led Manila to impose a ban on such activities in the West Philippine Sea, thereby complicating efforts to explore joint oil and gas development with China.

The working groups on fisheries, oil and gas, marine scientific research and environmental protection, and political security, formed under the BCM framework, function more like discussion groups, without producing any concrete results.

Rising tensions in the SCS between China and the Philippines, compounded by the Taiwan issue, have further hindered the BCM’s ability to fulfil its original objectives. Nevertheless, Beijing is likely to press ahead with the BCM, in line with its position that the SCS disputes must be left to the directly concerned parties.