“Clearly, there are strong advantages from the Malaysian government’s point of view in maintaining friendly relations with both (countries) to the maximum extent possible,” said Robert Wade, professor of Political Economy and Development at the London School of Economics (LSE).
Wade was speaking at the Malaysia Futures Forum 2023, hosted by Khazanah Research Institute in conjunction with the LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre.
“I cannot imagine anything other than that, such as Malaysia choosing to side with one bloc or the other, would make sense,” he added.
The need to safeguard US interests against China’s rising influence has worked to unify the often-divided Republican and Democratic parties.
“What changed the policy consensus now is the national security threat posed by China,” observed Wade.
Semiconductor wars
Since 2018, the unravelling of the economic relationship between the US and China has gathered pace, with the semiconductor industry emerging as a battleground.
In the summer of 2022, the Joe Biden administration passed the CHIPS and Science Act, which saw US$52.7 billion (RM243.11 billion) allocated to incentivise local production of semiconductors in the US.
“In order to keep this coalition on board to support this legislation, it was critical to include large subsidies to win bipartisan support,” said Wade.
Biden’s administration also imposed sweeping export restrictions last October, preventing US companies from exporting technology, software and equipment used in producing advanced chips to China.
It even went as far as barring US citizens from “supporting” the “development or production” of chips at certain China-based companies without a licence from the US government.
On May 2, Massachusetts representative Seth Moulton had suggested that the US should take action if China decides to occupy Taiwan, which it claims falls under its sovereignty.
“The US should make it very clear to the Chinese that if they invade Taiwan, we’re going to blow up TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co),” said Moulton.
Taiwan-based TSMC is one of the world’s leading firms in high-end semiconductor chip design and fabrication.