Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim expressed confidence in promoting cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as his country will officially assume the chair of the ASEAN on January 1, 2025.
Earlier, Malaysia said it will place inclusivity and sustainability at the forefront of its chairmanship of the ASEAN.
As Malaysia assumes ASEAN chairmanship, Prime Minister Anwar stressed that he will prioritize effective collaboration to strengthen the region's unity, he said during the interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing.
"Our focus for ASEAN would include, of course, political stability, effective collaboration between countries, even dealing with somewhat more precarious or contested issues," he said.
In October, leaders of China and ASEAN countries announced substantial conclusion of Version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA) upgrade negotiations at the 27th China-ASEAN Summit held in Vientiane, Laos.
It is expected to pave the way for one of the world's most populous and robust FTAs to play a bigger role in boosting regional development amid rising global protectionism.
Anwar said that his country has been accelerating the promotion of the signing of the 3.0 upgrade protocol and cooperation between China and ASEAN countries.
"We have now accelerated the process. Meetings among officials is ongoing. And we are quite confident that we could cement that sort of understanding by next year. We happen to be, other than ASEAN, we are also the country coordinator between ASEAN and China. So, we will do whatever is necessary, not only to facilitate but to accelerate the process. And therefore I am quite optimistic," he said.
Malaysian PM confident in enhancing China-ASEAN cooperation
The recently signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the United States and Iran has sparked major concern among Israeli officials, who fear that Israel's interests are being abandoned by its most crucial ally, according to analysts.
The development comes as Israel braces for a pivotal election later this year, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu potentially facing severe political fallout from the agreement.
"Israel views the MoU signed with Iran as a complete capitulation where the Americans were desperate to reach a deal because they clearly failed abysmally to plan for the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz. So they feel that all of Israel's interests have been abandoned," said Dan Perry, an American world affairs and political analyst.
Following the signing of the MoU, Iran and the United States held the first round of high-stakes indirect talks, mediated by Pakistan and Qatar, at the Swiss mountain resort of Buergenstock on Sunday.
On Monday, mediators announced encouraging outcomes from the talks, including a 60-day roadmap toward a final deal, and mechanisms to ensure the security of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, a close ally of Iran in Lebanon.
However, there have been concerns that Israel may jeopardize the negotiations.
"No doubt that the Americans, some of the Americans, definitely some of the Americans that are negotiating, like the Vice President JD Vance, think that Israel can put some obstacles and jeopardize the negotiations," said Yaki Dayan, former Israeli consul in Los Angeles.
With Israeli elections looming later this year, Netanyahu's core strategy to get re-elected was to portray the very good relations he holds with U.S. President Donald Trump. However, the MoU and the ensuing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran may dramatically affect the election results.
"Unless something dramatically changes, this is devastating for Netanyahu, not only because he pursued a strategy that has failed - the Iranian regime still stands, the nuclear program still exists, Hamas and Hezbollah are still fighting against Israel, but also because he was long perceived as Mr. America, with his incredible eloquence in American English. He could run circles around any American president to get America to do Israel's bidding," said Perry.
Perry added that instead of maintaining that influence, Netanyahu has brought Israel to an unbelievably low point in its relationship with the United States.
Although Netanyahu did practically everything to persuade the U.S. to withdraw from the previous Iran nuclear deal signed more than a decade ago under President Barack Obama, analysts doubt that he can repeat it again this time because Israel and its prime minister rely entirely on just one side of the American political spectrum.
"When you look at alternatives now, you don't have because Israel has lost the Democratic side as well. So you don't have an alternative in the American politics," said Dayan.
Israel feels its interests "abandoned" in US-Iran deal: analysts
