THERE is that highly-prized White House visit in the bag for Malaysia’s controversial prime minister Najib Razak next month. But there is more to just warming ties between the United States and Malaysia that have been soured by the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) mess.

It is in the shape of former military chief Zulkifeli Mohd Zon, who is turning out to be a pivotal player for Najib

Beneath all the talk of Malaysia’s stellar record in fighting terrorism and willingness to share intel on North Korea was a more critical task: making the US understand that it is in its best interest to have Najib in office. 

Zulkefili met US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Herbert’s McMaster, and other senior officials of the establishment during his visit, reflecting the cementing of ties between Kuala Lumpur and Washington over issues of mutual concern after being allies for 60 years.

Malaysia is key to the American strategy to combat Islamic State and other terror threats. Washington also sees Putrajaya as an important source of intelligence on North Korea.

That was why Malaysia’s national security chief Zulkifeli Mohd Zin was so well feted in the US, meeting with the National Security Council (NSC), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other high ranking officials over the last few days.  

The Malaysian Insight understands that Zulkifeli has made clear that the US can count on the Najib administration’s help in fighting terrorism and North Korea, whose ties with Malaysia were damaged in the aftermath of the Kim Jong-Nam murder at klia2 in February.

This commitment will be reaffirmed when Najib visits the White House next month.

So what does Putrajaya hope to get in return?

Najib and his cohorts do not believe that the US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) 1MDB court action will vanish just because Malaysia has once again become an important US ally. But they think that the cosy ties between the US and Malaysia will surely help in bringing about a win-win resolution to the case.

Zulkifeli’s meetings in Washington have encouraged top Malaysian officials to think this.

Of course, there will be a price to this as the US wheels of justice cannot be stopped from turning, but permanent interests are more important all the time.

For Malaysia, ties with the US establishment are a lot more important than just a visit to the White House. They reflect not just the stature of Najib, who has been unable to shake off the 1MDB muck that has stuck since the discovery of theft and colossal abuses at the state company, but Malaysia’s strategic importance to two superpowers, the US and China. 

It is well-documented how close Beijing and Najib have become in the past 12 months. In addition to a raft of infrastructure projects, Beijing has also clearly shown it is willing to offer Malaysia military hardware and make Kuala Lumpur the base for top Chinese companies.

China sees Malaysia as an important ally in the regional power-play in the South China Sea, where the Middle Kingdom has been expanding its influence these past few years. 

But international terrorism has made Malaysia a valuable ally, both for Washington and Beijing. Its growing closeness to the Trump administration is also unlikely to alienate Beijing as it is also concerned about the spreading terrorism threat in the region.

And in all likelihood, Putrajaya has kept Beijing in the loop about its friendly Washington stance. After all, both are equally important to Putrajaya in the long run. – August 26, 2017.