No to Trump at ASEAN 2025 in Malaysia

Resist US-Led War Movement extends our solidarity to the coalition of Anti-Imperialist organizations confronting Trump and the US agenda of plunder, militarization and neoliberalism at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit this October in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We echo the Bantah Trump Sekretariat demand: Trump and his administration are not welcome on Malaysian soil.

Comprised of 11 countries--Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Timor-Leste (scheduled to join in October 2025)--ASEAN in its declaration aims to "promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries of the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter."

Yet Malaysia has rolled out the red carpet to Donald Trump, the backer of the genocide in Palestine, where the US war crimes of genocide, ecocide, targeting civilians, and blocking humanitarian aid have all been exposed to the whole world, amidst growing Palestine protests by the Malaysian people. Hosting President Trump at the ASEAN Summit undermines the publicly critical stand against Israel and the genocide in Palestine that Malaysia has taken.

The US is significantly escalating militarization of Southeast Asia through expanded aid, increased scale and frequency of joint military and war drills in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, new weapons system deployment, troop basing and hyper investment in mining, semiconductors, microchips and other components for weapons under the guise of 'supply chain resilience. This buildup, which includes hosting weapons expos in Malaysia, occurs amidst rising regional tensions that threaten to destabilize the area. While Southeast Asian states are pursuing military modernization through these deeper defense partnerships, they remain reluctant to openly side with any power in the increasingly polarized geopolitical environment.

In spite of the rapid US build up to war in the region, the ASEAN Summit will serve as a stage for Trumps false "peace maker" propaganda stunts. Politico reported last week that Trump’s participation at ASEAN was contingent on whether the bloc would hold an official ceasefire ceremony with him at the helm, after July, when Trump shared a characteristically unilateral announcement that he had "ended a war between Thailand and Cambodia." Thousands were displaced by the border skirmishes, and today clashes persist despite the agreement, due to a decades-long colonial legacy of disputed borders that remains unresolved. Without any genuine peace achieved, Trump leveraged the situation for credit and political concessions.

A truly peaceful and independent Southeast Asia cannot be realized if any of the countries in the region remain subservient to US imperialism, the primary source of global instability.

On paper ASEAN Indo Pacific Outlook promotes an "Indo-Pacific region of development and prosperity for all," but in reality the ruling classes of ASEAN countries facilitate the exploitation of their land and people through policies that cater to US and Chinese economic pressures. The US-China trade relationship, until very recently the largest in the world, is decoupling rapidly. The pressure will build massively on “connector” countries like those in Southeast Asia that are seen by the US now as the lengthening of China’s supply chain, with ASEAN the largest export market of China. Southeast Asian economies are squeezed by flooding Chinese export dumping on the one hand and US tariff war on the other. Workers are impacted by layoffs, suppressed wages, and chronic underemployment. The people have resisted this prolonged crisis with militant protests in the Philippines and Indonesia where workers, farmers, and youth confront blatant government neglect and corruption. Furthermore, the drive for AI and automation, which Malaysia touts itself as a regional leader of, if not controlled by workers, simply creates more efficient systems of exploitation.

We echo and support the coalition's demands against the US:
Military

1. End U.S. support for the Zionist settler-colonisation of Palestine, as well as U.S. military interventions and aggression in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Venezuela, and more.
2. End U.S. military presence and use of U.S. military bases in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.
3. End U.S. interference in the South China Sea conflict and ASEAN.
4. End U.S. interference in domestic politics through IMF, World Bank, NED/NDI and joint military exercises and training.

Economic

1. End unilateral sanctions against nations in the Global South, including Iran, Cuba, Syria, Panama and Axis of Resistance.
2. Stop economic subjugation of countries in Southeast Asia and the Global South such as the Philippines and Indonesia in the form of tariff wars and unequal trade agreements.
3. End U.S.-/Western imperialist-led neoliberalism and privatisation which seeks to serve Western monopoly capitalism while dismantling workers' rights, public healthcare, and social services.

Environment

1. Immediately begin paying climate debt to countries in the Global South. The U.S. and Global North, including its military regime and multinational corporations, are responsible for the majority of global carbon emissions through their exploitation and wars in the Global South and must account for both its historical and ongoing emissions.