KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — In the world of diplomacy, where bridges are built, alliances are strengthened, and cultures are intertwined, the role of a diplomat like the outgoing United States (US) Ambassador to Malaysia, Brian D. McFeeters, holds immense significance.
He arrived in the vibrant Southeast Asian nation during turbulent times, when the Covid-19 pandemic gripped the world and tensions escalated from the deteriorating US-China relations.
Despite the challenges, McFeeters described his tour of duty in the vibrant Southeast Asian nation since February 26, 2021, as ‘valuable’ with many exemplary achievements for both sides.
McFeeters who is fluent in Malay, said the US-Malaysia economic sphere witnessed the most significant achievements during his stint here.
“The thing that really stands out is on the economic side. Over the last 18 months (from 2022 until the date), US companies have made investment pledges in Malaysia totalling RM100 billion — a very significant figure, namely in pharmaceutical and medical devices, data centres, electronics and semiconductor sectors.
“US investments are really coming strong into Malaysia, and this is good for the US. We found out during Covid-19 that Malaysia is a vital part of the world’s supply chain. Hence many US factories depend directly on something made in Malaysia
“We have a mutually beneficial economic relationship that has been developed to this day,” he said in an interview with Bernama News‘ TV programme The Nation recently.
Elaborating more on his term here, the ambassador dubbed the moment Malaysia received one million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, Pfizer from the US, as his ‘high point’ of accommodating the success story in US-Malaysia relations.
“But I think what is more interesting here is the way that Malaysia was able to persuade around 90 per cent of its population to be vaccinated. We never quite reached that level in the US as scepticism kicked in and it became politicised (too).
“What I saw in Malaysia was a government that was able to face an unprecedented challenge (Covid-19), and get organised with some international assistance done mainly by the government.
“Here we saw the strengths of the Malaysian government where it even managed to get foreign workers vaccinated and this really made a difference,” said McFeeters.
One million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 which the US government donated arrived in Malaysia on July 5, 2021, as part of the promises from US President Joe Biden’s administration to share 80 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine with various countries including parts of Asia, Bernama reported.
Meanwhile, regarding the tensions in the South China Sea (SCS) region, the ambassador said he weighed in Washington’s direction on the geopolitical interests concerning Malaysia, which is part of the SCS region.
McFeeters reiterated the US is not asking any country to choose between the US and China.
“There is no denying Malaysia’s strong and beneficial trade relationship with China that helped the country to advance economically, and there is no request to change that.
“What the US is telling the world is each country needs to make its own decisions about how it defends its sovereignty and maritime domain.
“What we are doing on our side is we are making it clear that we want the status quo to remain as it is — for the SCS to be open for all parties’ commerce purposes. It (SCS) has been an open waterway for centuries and it should remain that way.
“Preserving the status quo is needed, which also means peace. There are threats, but it is largely peaceful in the SCS and across the Taiwan Strait. We want that to remain,” he said.
Though McFeeters may have retired from the diplomatic service upon his return to the US, he had dropped hints that he would come back to Southeast Asia, a region where he had spent half of his 30-year Foreign Service career.
— Bernama
