The decision by the US to upgrade Malaysia’s ranking on its list of illegal human trafficking centres would ease the establishment of the Trans-Pacific-Partnership (TPP) trade pact. It shows the primacy of larger strategic imperatives over human rights issues in US-Malaysia relations.

The recent decision by the US to upgrade Malaysia’s ranking on its list of illegal human trafficking centres would ease the establishment of the Trans-Pacific-Partnership (TPP), a mega free trade pact involving twelve countries, including Malaysia and the US. It shows that larger strategic imperatives could matter more than human rights issues in US-Malaysia relations.

American foreign policy towards other countries, including Malaysia, frequently incorporates human rights issues. Nevertheless, human rights issues often are secondary to the shared pragmatism and larger strategic concerns of both the US and Malaysia.

… David Han Guo Xiong is a Research Analyst with the Malaysia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.