Prime Minister Christopher Luxon attends the East Asia Summit. Photo / Pool
The Malaysian Prime Minister has told his fellow world leaders – including New Zealand’s Christopher Luxon - there must be an “inclusive, just and lasting political solution for Palestine”.
Anwar Ibrahim, the head of the host nation of this year’s East Asia Summit (EAS), said in opening remarks at the forum on Monday night NZT that countries must “advocate for dialogue over coercion, balance over binaries and cooperation over confrontation”.
He referenced several international issues, like Myanmar, tensions in the South China Sea, and North Korean missile launches.
On Gaza, the leader highlighted US President Donald Trump’s peace plan to help end the conflict in the Middle East. He called it an “important, critical beginning to stop this madness, genocide and atrocities”.
Malaysia has a large Muslim population and has shown very strong support for Palestine, first officially recognising it as a state in 1988 as one was declared by the Palestine Liberation Organisation. This was when many of the Asian nations made the move.
In September, Malaysia said the recognition of the State of Palestine “should not be subject to any preconditions” and believed there was a “collective commitment” amongst countries that would help “end Israel’s colonisation and atrocities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said at the time “too many questions remain about the future of the State of Palestine for it to be prudent” for New Zealand to recognise it. He said it was still a “matter of when, not if” and New Zealand did support a two-state solution.
But recognition is an issue that New Zealand is in the minority on among other nations at the EAS. Of the 19 member countries, just six don’t recognise a Palestinian state. That includes Singapore, Myanmar, Japan, South Korea, and the United States.
Luxon is expected to meet with the Malaysian Prime Minister later on Tuesday, but told the Herald he doesn’t foresee the Palestinian recognition question being a concern while in Kuala Lumpur.
“No, I don’t think that’s going to be a concern or an issue at all,” he said.
The Prime Minister made the point that the United States, which doesn’t recognise a Palestinian state, has been critical in coordinating with regional actions to get a ceasefire and hostages released.
“Irrespective of where you are on recognition, there is massive unity and alignment on the main event, which is, how do we stop the killing? How do we get a ceasefire? How do we get a lasting peace in the Middle East?”
He said “dialogue [and] diplomacy” were important to reaching a two-state solution.
“Clearly, Indonesia and Malaysia have very long-established positions around Palestine and have been very influential in even getting to this point with the ceasefire. They’ve been important players with the regional actors of Qatar and Egypt, and Turkey, working together with the Americans. They’ve actually been reinforcing the dialogue for ceasefire.
“Obviously, you’ve got partners like Singapore, Japan, Korea, other countries in our region, have had a very similar position to ourselves.”
Speaking to reporters after Monday’s EAS, Luxon said it presented a “really good way to discuss a number of issues across the region”.
He mentioned the ceasefire deal reached between Cambodia and Thailand, and how the leaders of the respective nations had been “magnanimous” and “conciliatory” in their remarks during the forum.
“Really constructive meeting, everyone gets a chance to voice their concerns and all the concerns about where do we go next and what do we need to do.”
While Luxon wouldn’t say what he raised during the meeting, he noted he had “consistently and pretty stridently” made the case for a rules-based international system.
“Prosperity is very much threatened when we don’t have security,” he said.
One area where Luxon earlier told the Herald there was “massive opportunity” for New Zealand to deepen its trade relationship with Malaysia is in regard to halal meat products.
An announcement on progress towards smoother access for New Zealand exporters into the market could be made during Luxon’s visit.
“Anwar and I’ve been trying to work towards getting halal meat certification and a common standard,” he said. “That’s really important because red meat all around the world, there’s not enough of it. There’s been huge global demand for it.”
Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard said in July that Malaysia wanted to increase New Zealand’s access to the market, which would help Kiwi farmers, processors and exporters. Exports are already worth more than $60 million.
The Meat Industry Association said that red meat exports reached $717 million in August – up 22% annually due to strong global demand.
Jamie Ensor is a senior political reporter forNZ Heraldtravelling with the Prime Minister in Asia this week.