Coronavirus: Asia should fill leadership vacuum in post-pandemic world, Malaysia’s Muhyiddin says
- The region should take the lead in drawing new strategies from trade to health as ‘there can be no recovery without an Asian recovery’, Muhyiddin said
- He was speaking at the Nikkei Future of Asia conference, which also saw discussions of the US-China rivalry, geopolitical security and Covid-19 vaccines
With Covid-19 throwing a spotlight on the deep flaws in global governance in areas from trade to public health and patent protection, Asian countries should take the lead in rebuilding new mechanisms for the post-pandemic era, regional leaders told an annual conference on Thursday.
The Malaysian leader said the vacuum in global leadership offered an opportunity for Asian nations given that “there can be no recovery without an Asian recovery”.
“If Asia chooses to use our upcoming status and influence to raise our voices on behalf of those countries who have no voice, if we choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless, this will not be a mere restart of the Asian economic century, but an enlightened Asian millennium,” Muhyiddin said.
Other speakers on the first day of the two-day forum included Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Asked during a question and answer segment on the perception that Cambodia was too reliant on China, Hun Sen responded: “If I don’t rely on China, who will I rely on? If I don’t ask China, who am I to ask?”