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KUALA LUMPUR: The bilateral relationship between Malaysia and the United States (US) has grown stronger over the past six decades in all sectors, and will most likely not change regardless of who wins the US presidential race tomorrow ( November 3), according to analysts. .
Associate Professor Dr Muhamad Takiyuddin from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at the National University of Malaysia (UKM) said that both countries are working together to maintain beneficial relations to achieve mutual benefits in terms of trade.
“Based on insignificant changes during former US President Barack Obama from the Democratic Party and the presidency of Donald Trump towards Malaysia-US relations, I can conclude that whoever wins tomorrow’s election, Malaysian-US relations They probably won’t change, “he told Bernama in a telephone interview.
The 2020 U.S. presidential election, scheduled for tomorrow, will be the 59th quadrennial presidential election, which will see fiery competition between Republican President Trump, who will defend his post for a second term, and his Democratic Party rival, Joe Biden.
Diplomatic relations between Malaysia and the US were established on August 31, 1957, when the US raised its Consulate General in Kuala Lumpur to the status of Embassy.
Commenting further, Muhamad said that Obama’s pivotal policy has helped strengthen bilateral ties between Washington and Kuala Lumpur, while Malaysia-US relations continued to flourish and remain strong during the Trump era despite the ups and downs on certain topics.
“Both countries continue to maintain their beneficial relations with each other, especially in terms of trade.
“Malaysia and the United States have put aside their differences and disagreements on certain issues in order to achieve economic prosperity for both sides,” he added.
The United States is Malaysia’s third largest trading partner.
According to WorldCity analysis of the latest data from the US Census Bureau, Malaysia’s trade with the United States increased to $ 35.44 billion during the first eight months of 2020.
Regarding the United States’ support for Malaysia in the South China Sea (SCS) dispute, Muhamad said that in terms of SCS, the United States appears to be the right actor to balance China’s dominance in SCS and “without the United States , China continues to widely expand (ing) its hegemony in SCS without limit ”.
UKM legal adviser and international law expert Associate Professor Dr Salawati Mat Basir said she intends for the newly elected US President to relax the trade restrictions imposed on developing countries in terms of commercial purposes.
“If possible, bring back the non-quota for developing countries (for commercial purposes) like (what was done) during the Obama administration,” he added.
Commenting on the cooperation of the United States and Malaysia in terms of military exercises, he said that Malaysia is often invited to the annual Cobra Gold military exercise co-organized by the United States and Thailand.
Cobra Gold is currently the largest Indo-Pacific multinational military exercise held in Thailand each year.
However, the leading geostrategic, Dr. Azmi Hassan, offered a different perspective.
In his opinion, if Biden wins, it will bring more positivity to the dynamics of relationships.
“If Biden wins, the bilateral Kuala Lumpur-Washington relationship will be ‘fairer and more balanced,” he said.
Azmi said on international affairs that he believes Biden will be more rational and listen to his experts, and will not act on a whim.
Azmi said Biden is also expected to soften the United States’ stance towards China and a more rational and progressive approach to the South China Sea problems.
“A cordial relationship between the United States and China, for example, will be good for us … it will open up more market for our exports, and certainly during the Biden era, the United States’ participation in the SCS will be more consistent and not because the President of the United States wants to score a point with President (Chinese President) Xi (Jinping), ”he said. -Called
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