KUALA LUMPUR: While Malaysia may have weathered the 2021 pandemic year fairly well, it was a bumpy road for the country on the diplomatic front with some unforeseen dramatic developments that even made world headlines.

       Early in the year, a diplomatic crisis emerged after a Malaysian court ruled that a North Korean businessman be extradited to the United States to face money-laundering charges that violated US-imposed sanctions on the rogue state.

       North Korean state media, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), reported on March 19 that in retaliation, North Korea had severed all diplomatic ties with Malaysia on the grounds that the latter had collaborated with the US in extraditing the businessman.

       Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra) responded politely by saying it regretted North Korea’s decision, and in turn decided to close its embassy in Pyongyang.

       Malaysia in fact had suspended its embassy’s operations in Pyongyang in 2017 following the fallout from the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged stepbrother of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, at KLIA2, with Malaysia ordering all North Korean diplomatic and non-diplomatic staff and their families here to leave the country within 48 hours.

       As the dust was just settling after the North Korean episode, a disturbance in the ties between Malaysia and China came to the international media’s attention after 16 Chinese military aircraft flew through Malaysian airspace over Sarawak’s coast, coming close to Beting Ali.

       The unwarranted incursion triggered strong protest from Malaysia with a diplomatic protest sent to Beijing and China’s Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing summoned by Wisma Putra.

       The incursion was not the only ones, with Ouyang once again being summoned by Wisma Putra in October after Chinese vessels encroached waters off the coast of Sabah.

       Despite the hiccups, Malaysia and China continued to build on their existing bilateral ties.

       Former foreign minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and his successor Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah went to China for official engagements at the invitation of their Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, in April and December respectively. Aside from those unwarranted episodes, Malaysia, being one of Asean’s influential members, was seen playing a key role along with the regional body’s member states and dialogue partners in finding ways to help Myanmar restore law and order, and see the return of a democratic government.

       Since the Feb 1 coup that overthrew the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar witnessed a deterioration in public order as security forces and civilians clashed, leaving at least 1,000 people dead.

       Hence on April 24, Asean leaders who met in Jakarta reached the 5-Point Consensus in helping to tackle the political crisis in Myanmar. However, the consensus did not make any headway due to Myanmar’s indifference and hence the regional grouping that is known not to rock the boat took an unprecedented and extraordinary decision to exclude the junta from the 38th and 39th Asean Summits and Related Summits from Oct 26-28.

       Also, after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, followed by Taliban fighters entering Kabul on Aug 15 and taking control of the country for the first time in almost 20 years, Malaysia followed closely the developments and lent its support for the country’s self-determination goal.

       To date, the Malaysian government is still following the developments there closely, although it has yet to recognise the new Afghan government.

       Moving into the third quarter of the year, Malaysia and several of its neighbours were jolted when the trilateral security pact Aukus – the acronym for “Australia-United Kingdom-United States” emerged out of the blue to counter China’s growing presence in the Indo-Pacific region.The new security alliance is aimed at allowing greater sharing of defence capabilities, including helping equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.

       Malaysia and Indonesia voiced their concern about the possibility of Aukus triggering a nuclear arms race in the region.

       2021 was certainly a memorable year on the country’s diplomatic front, and 2022 looks to be yet another challenging year with the nation having to wade through many divisive regional and international issues, including climate change and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). — Bernama