The TPPA and Malaysia

After BN ‘won’ GE13, Barack Obama called and congratulated Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on his ‘mandate’. The US president also reportedly confirmed his attendance at the upcoming 4th Global Entrepreneurship Summit in KL later this year.

Of great significance is Obama’s mention of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), as he expressed his hope that it would be concluded sooner.

It is perhaps not by coincidence that both Nurul Izzah Anwar (left) and Charles Santiago have indicated their grave concern over the lack of transparency and also the possible impact of the TPPA on Malaysia’s sovereignty.

That the TPPA is an attempt by Washington to sideline Beijing is no longer a secret.

As China’s economic clout is becoming all the more potent and beginning to show leverage over the US in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the TPPA - mooted by Obama - is meant to take the wind out of China’s sails by embracing major economies in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia.

It is a direct response to the emergence of China as an economic power, and represents an important step for Washington to ensure continued domination of global resources.

As a small nation, Malaysia would do well to navigate cautiously between the two powers. However, the US’ assertive intervention in the politics of South-East Asia is too obvious to be overlooked, and could undermine the smooth development of the regional bloc into a meaningful economic entity.

For instance, whether or not the opposition alliance has been receiving funding from US sources has long been a subject of much conjecture, with the notorious National Endowment for Democracy, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs being pro-actively looking for an opportunity to interfere in the domestic politics of a sovereign state.

Before Malaysia, there has been a similar trend in other countries that are strategically vital to US interests - Egypt, Libya, Syria, Ukraine and Georgia. One segment of society that is of particular interest to Washington is the youth population. The only difference is that a regime change is not quite necessary - at least not yet - as Malaysia continues to be among the friendliest countries to the US.

Lahad Datu incident an impetus?

For instance, there are speculations about who are the ultimate beneficiaries after the Lahad Datu fiasco earlier this year. The fact that the intruders were well-trained and equipped with arms clearly indicates that they had acted with perhaps the best organisation and the strongest funding from third parties, which the government has refused to acknowledge.

I am of the opinion that these Filipinos could not have carried out such a major operation without at least some kind of tacit support from behind the scenes. The backers cannot be the Malaysian opposition as some government ministers have suggested, because they are simply financially and logistically incapable of doing so even if they had wished to.

In any case, the Lahad Datu incident is now a crucial reason why Malaysia has slipped significantly - from 20 to 29 - in the latest Global Peace Index, and may serve as an impetus for some quarters to revive the argument for a return of US military presence in the region.

But the biggest humbug is Umno, which has been exploiting every opportunity to portray the opposition and civil society as a US stooge, although its leadership is perhaps most enthusiastic in cultivating closer ties - economic, financial and political - with Washington.

It is in this context that some opposition lawmakers have raised their legitimate concern. As rightly pointed out by Charles, the negotiation process is controlled by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti), with sketchy details being made available to the public.

Let’s not forget that Malaysia is only a small economy and is not in a position to absorb the costs paid for joining the TPPA in haste. In the late 1990s, China agreed to open up a large chunk of its market to US agricultural products in order to enter the World Trade Organisation.

Today, Chinese peasants have suffered greatly as a result of the betrayal by their ruling elites, as cheaper imported products from the West (and also Taiwan to a much lesser extent) flood the Chinese market. Little wonder that clashes between peasants and the local police have become a norm across the vast country and a nightmare for the ‘communists’.

Almost all the TPPA negotiating countries are rich in natural resources, including Malaysia. How to ensure we will not lose our sovereignty to any foreign power - be it China, the US or the European Union? The only way is to put more pressure on Umno to unveil what has transpired so far, as requested by both Nurul Izzah and Charles.

On this, I echo particularly the former’s call for the government to strengthen our environmental laws to that of international standards to prevent abuse of our diverse ecosystem, whether by China, the US or any other global power interested in Malaysia’s rich and vast diversity in our natural resources.

JOSH HONG studied politics at London Metropolitan University and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. A keen watcher of domestic and international politics, he longs for a day when Malaysians will learn and master the art of self-mockery, and enjoy life to the full in spite of politicians.