Taiwan Confirms It Suspended Investment Talks With Malaysia Over Anwar’s Remarks

Taiwan has confirmed it suspended bilateral investment talks with Malaysia last month, following Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s remarks about Taiwan in an August interview with Al Jazeera.

Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei said the decision considered Taiwan’s sovereignty and economic security and aimed to protect its investors’ rights and interests.

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He called the remarks “unfriendly” and said they could affect Taiwanese companies’ confidence in investing in Malaysia. He added that Taipei remains in contact with Kuala Lumpur and hopes Malaysia will acknowledge the close investment ties between the two sides, leaving room to resume talks.

Hsiao was responding to a 9 November Nikkei Asia report, which quoted an unnamed Malaysian government source saying Taipei shelved trade talks scheduled for late October. Taiwan was Malaysia’s fourth-largest trading partner in 2025, with goods trade of RM233.02 billion, according to MITI.

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In the interview aired on 16 August, Anwar reaffirmed Malaysia’s One China Policy and said he sees Taiwan as part of China. Asked whether he would condemn Beijing if it used force, he cited a Malaysian state trying to secede and said he would try to stop it.

Taiwan’s ministry called his remarks “false” on 18 August. Two days later, Anwar defended his stance, saying Malaysia has followed the One China Policy since Abdul Razak Hussein’s time and stressing the importance of a peaceful solution.