US President Donald Trump may visit Malaysia after the thirty third ASEAN summit in November, a White House official said.
The planned visit was mentioned by National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs Matthew Pottinger, the primary Trump administrator to go to Malaysia because the country’s historic general elections in May, during a media roundtable in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday (June 19).
“Trump looks forward to deepening our comprehensive partnership with Malaysia,” Pottinger said.
“The ASEAN summit is approaching at the top of this 12 months, so we’re exploring the probabilities of organizing the president’s next trip,” he added.
The thirty third ASEAN Summit can be held from November 11 to fifteen in Singapore.
Pottinger said he delivered a letter from Trump to the Malaysian government on Tuesday congratulating Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan Harapan coalition on its election victory.
Tun Dr Mahathir previously said he had no plans to fulfill Trump and that he didn’t know how one can take care of the US leader’s “unstable” personality.
The latest prime minister’s stance differs from that of his predecessor Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who sought close ties with Trump and even traveled to the White House to debate bilateral relations.
Asked whether Dr Mahathir’s negative opinion of Trump would damage relations between the 2 countries, Pottinger replied that they “look ahead to engaging and deepening bilateral relations in any respect levels of presidency.”
Regarding the South China Sea dispute, Pottinger said the United States and its partners will proceed to reply to China’s militarization of islands in the world.
In late May, two U.S. warships passed inside 12 nautical miles of the Paracel Islands, amongst disputed islands claimed by China, prompting the Chinese authorities to reply by sending their very own warships to confront the U.S. Navy.
Pottinger said the South China Sea is a component of the maritime community and expressed disappointment with China’s militarization of the ocean.
“All the United States and its partners will take steps within the near and long run to reply to this militarization. “Such steps needs to be seen as stabilizing the situation, not a provocation,” he added.
Dr Mahathir has previously said he doesn’t want any foreign warships within the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca.
He then signed an agreement with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to make sure freedom of navigation for all countries in each seas.
Pottinger’s visit to Malaysia follows a summit in Singapore during which Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Source: The Straits Times
