Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday condemned Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim after he characterized Taiwan as "part of China" in a televised interview and stopped short of criticizing Beijing's use of force against the island, warning that his remarks could damage both political trust and Taiwanese business confidence in Malaysia.
The rebuke came two days after Anwar sat down with Al Jazeera English on August 16 for a roughly 25-minute interview exploring how Malaysia navigates its diplomatic position between Washington and Beijing. His comments on Taiwan quickly drew fire in Taipei.
Anwar Refuses to Condemn a Chinese Military Strike on Taiwan
Asked during the interview whether, as a long-standing advocate for democracy, he could understand why Taiwanese people resist being governed by Beijing, Anwar declined to engage with the premise. The question, he said, "to some extent condones an attempt to split a legitimate, independent country — I don't accept that."
When pressed on whether he would condemn China for using military force to achieve what it calls unification, Anwar reached for an analogy: if a Malaysian state sought to secede, he would defend the country's "sanctity and unity" — by force if necessary. The comparison implicitly framed Taiwan not as a self-governing democracy of 23 million people, but as an internal separatist problem for Beijing to resolve.
Taipei Accuses Anwar of Rationalizing Beijing's Military Threat
Taiwan's foreign ministry said Anwar's remarks implied that Taiwan is a "separatist province" of China and publicly rationalized China's drive to unify Taiwan by force — language that, the ministry added, "seriously endangers regional peace and stability."
The ministry was unequivocal on Taiwan's political status: the Republic of China (Taiwan) is a sovereign and independent country, and the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People's Republic of China "are not subordinate to one another." It added that this fact "will never be altered by any false claims made by anyone."
Officials in Taipei also held Anwar's own democratic record against him. Malaysia is a democracy, the ministry noted, and Anwar has long presented himself as a defender of human rights. As such, the ministry argued, he should "value universal principles like democracy, freedom, human rights, and the rule of law, and respect and uphold the will of the people." Any political maneuvering that echoes the notion of unilaterally changing the cross-strait status quo by force, it said, not only harms Taiwan's people but "severely damages political trust between Taiwan and Malaysia."
Investment Climate at Risk as Sovereignty and Economics Intertwine
Taiwan's foreign ministry went beyond diplomatic language to flag an economic consequence. Economic and trade relations between the two sides have always been close, the ministry said, but Anwar's remarks — touching on national sovereignty, which it described as closely connected with economic security — "could adversely affect the confidence of Taiwanese businesses considering investment in Malaysia."
Taiwan said it would continue working with like-minded countries to defend democratic values and maintain peace, stability and prosperity across the Indo-Pacific. （Related： Opinion | Beyond the Seabed: Building Taiwan's Satellite Resilience ｜ Latest ）
