ASEAN Beat | Diplomacy | Southeast Asia

China Praises Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim For Supportive Comments on Taiwan

The Malaysian leader’s remarks also prompted a rebuke from Taipei, which said that they “could negatively impact Taiwanese businesses’ confidence in investing in Malaysia.”

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim addresses a budget meeting in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Aug. 18, 2026. (X/Anwar Ibrahim)

China has praised recent comments by Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, in which he described Taiwan as a province of China and expressed support for its use of force in the pursuit of national “reunification.”

In an interview with Al Jazeera published on Sunday, the Malaysian leader said that he saw “Taiwan as part of China, period.” He added that there was “one China” and that this was “accepted by all.”

Anwar also expressed support for China’s right to use force in order to unify the country, arguing that if a province of Malaysia attempted to secede, it would be his responsibility to “protect the sanctity and unity of the nation” – by force if necessary.

“China appreciates the remarks by Prime Minister Anwar,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a daily press briefing in Beijing yesterday. “I would like to reiterate that there’s only one China in the world. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and China must and will be reunited.”

Anwar’s comments caused a conversely negative reaction in Taipei, where the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that Anwar’s “one-sided support for China could negatively impact Taiwanese businesses’ confidence in investing in Malaysia.”

His apparent support for unilateral efforts to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait via the threat of force “severely damages political trust between Taiwan and Malaysia.”

The ministry also said that if Malaysia’s leader was really a defender of human rights, as he has long claimed, he should “uphold universal values such as democracy, freedom, human rights, and the rule of law, and respect the will of the people.”

The standoff reflects the difficulties that Malaysia has faced in its attempt to maintain a balance between.

Malaysia remains economically close to China, but has also welcomed investment from other Asian countries, including Taiwan – including in the country’s high-tech industry.

One commentator in Malaysiakini expressed concern that Taiwan “is a........

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