WSJ warns Trump on White House photo-op for 'scandal-tainted' leader

The Wall Street Journal, which had earned the wrath of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his supporters over its reporting on 1MDB, has now zoomed in on the Malaysian leader's upcoming visit to the White House and meeting with United States President Donald Trump.

In an editorial, WSJ cautioned the Trump administration on the risks of meeting Najib.

It claimed that Trump could find himself being “humiliated” in the same manner as his predecessor Barack Obama.

WSJ claimed that the “humiliation” was in the form of Anwar Ibrahim being slapped with a prison sentence just two months after Obama played a round of golf with Najib in Hawaii, and the then US president's historic visit to Malaysia in April 2014.

Anwar has always maintained that the sodomy charge against him was fabricated by his political rivals, but the authorities have denied this.

According to the editorial, the “legal farce” was followed by Frank White, Jr, co-chair of Obama's re-election committee, selling a stake in a 1MDB-linked solar technology firm back to the fund for US$69 million.

The WSJ said while Najib could boost his popularity by meeting Trump, the White House, however, would receive nothing in return from the meeting, scheduled for Sept 12.

“It isn't clear that Mr Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (who visited Malaysia last month) are getting anything in return for associating with a leader their own Justice Department (DOJ) is investigating,” it added.

'Use Hurricanes Harvey as an excuse to cancel meet'

The editorial also warned the US State Department that whatever leverage it thinks it might gain from associating with Malaysia would have little effect on the country's rapidly deteriorating relationship with North Korea – because of Malaysia's dependence on China over the 1MDB scandal.

“But Mr Najib isn’t likely to stop his strategic drift towards China.

“Keeping 1MDB afloat will require cash infusions, and China, eager to help fellow authoritarians, can deploy its 'One Belt, One Road' slush fund. Mr Najib can then buy off the opposition and consolidate power.

“If Malaysia slides into a dictatorship, it will almost surely fall into Beijing's orbit. The US relationship depends on Malaysia remaining a viable democracy.

“That's why helping Mr Najib at this critical moment is a mistake,” it added.

The editorial also suggested several excuses which could be used to cancel the meeting should Trump be told that it is too late to call it off.

“The US can find a diplomatic excuse in Hurricanes Harvey and Irma or congressional battles. Any embarrassment is better than giving a scandal-tainted leader a White House photo-op,” it said.

Najib has repeatedly denied involvement in the 1MDB scandal or having abused public funds for personal gain.

In Malaysia, attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali found no grounds to initiate legal action against the prime minister based on investigations carried out by local authorities into 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion in Najib's accounts.

The RM2.6 billion was said to be a donation from a member of the Saudi royalty with no strings attached, a claim the prime minister's detractors, such as Dr Mahathir Mohamad, find difficult to ingest.

However, Najib has accused Mahathir of heading a campaign to topple him from power, and the prime minister's supporters have even accused WSJ of being complicit.

'Some in Washington concerned over Malaysia's alignments with major powers'

In a related development, The Diplomat also focused on Najib's visit to the White House, noting how the 1MDB and human trafficking issues had complicated ties between the two nations.

In a commentary, the publication's associate editor Prashanth Parameswaran pointed to three major challenges or “tests.”

According to him, the first is Washington’s concerns about Malaysia's alignments with major powers.

“Beyond the hype of a pivot to China, some in Washington have grown concerned about whether Najib’s personal quest for domestic survival, which had already undermined Malaysia's economy, polarised its politics, and upset its fragile multi-ethnic fabric, is also subsuming the country's foreign policy and impairing its ability to balance its alignments with major powers, chiefly US and China,” he said.

“Though there is a tendency to overstate the degree to which this is occurring, the perception of what I have termed the 'Najibisation' of Malaysian foreign policy has nonetheless persisted among even some well-informed observers, especially as we have seen the Southeast Asian state make some unprecedented moves in its ties with Beijing in recent years.

“But even Malaysian policymakers who are sympathetic to Washington’s concerns on this score are quick to point out that reliability cuts both ways.

Trump's withdrawal from TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) – an agreement that was especially significant in the context of bilateral ties since the two countries had failed to negotiate a bilateral free trade pact; and one that the Najib government, to its credit, had worked hard to sell despite domestic opposition – was a huge blow to US credibility.

“And, more broadly, with so much still so uncertain about the Trump administration's overall Asia policy and foreign policy more generally, including its approach to China, there is little incentive thus far for Malaysia to reconsider its long-held hedging tendencies,” he added.

The second challenge, said Prashant, is to mind the gap with respect to threat perception.

“Framed as a general proposition, it would be difficult to dispute the fact that Malaysia and US do have common interests across several issue areas, be it in battling the Islamic State threat or addressing China's growing assertiveness in the maritime domain.

“It is also understandable that the Trump administration has begun asking more of individual Southeast Asian states, including Malaysia, on issues such as North Korea given recent developments, even though reality is often much more complex than it is presented.

“Yet talk of a convergence of interests also obscures the reality that these threat perceptions are far from completely aligned on these issues, be it with regard to the magnitude of the threat in question or the proper mix of means necessary to deal with it.

“That explains why, for instance, Malaysia's stance with respect to North Korea, while noticeably firmer in recent months, still falls short of the harsher approach that the Trump administration has tried to forge among Asian states,” he added.

Prashant said the final issue would be to get the “balance right on rights,” and warned that it would be a mistake should the two leaders fail to address this.

“Though Trump and Najib might well try to ignore the issue of rights altogether while focusing on narrow interests – the former has evinced little interest in the advancement of American ideals, and the latter would be glad to avoid further scrutiny on this score given the withering criticism already heard ahead of the visit – for the two sides not to deal with this openly would be a grave mistake.

“This is especially because of the inescapable reality that the majority of Malaysians, particularly the youth, voted against the current Najib government that the Trump administration has invited to the White House, an honour that was not given by the Obama administration (and one that was instantly criticised in media circles),” he added. - Mkini

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