Germany strikes balancing act in Southeast Asia

When German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock met her Malaysian counterpart, Mohamad Hasan, in Kuala Lumpur on January 12, she was on day six of a trip that had taken her from the Middle East to Southeast Asia.

Although Gaza is some 7,600 kilometers (4,700 miles) away, the Israel-Hamas war took center stage. Baerbock said she wanted to better understand the perspective of a Muslim-majority country on the conflict while making Germany's position clear at the same time.

But massive divisions remain. Baerbock told the German press that most Malaysians are unaware that the Islamist militant group Hamas is still holding some 130 hostages who were taken into captivity during the brutal October 7 terror attacks on southern Israel. 

"The youngest hostage has just turned one," Baerbock told journalists after meeting with Hasan.

Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with Israel. It supports South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. It has not distanced itself from Hamas terrorism.

The government in Kuala Lumpur considers Hamas, which the US, Germany, the EU and others designate as a terrorist organization, to be a legitimate resistance movement.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is said to be in close contact with Hamas leaders.

In other words, the German and Malaysian perspectives on the Israel-Hamas conflict could hardly be more different.

Germany's balancing act

German lawmaker Jürgen Hardt, from the conservative opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), told DW that Berlin must make it clear to Muslim-majority countries "that Israel is Germany's closest ally in the Middle East."

Baerbock was the first German foreign minister to go to Malaysia since Joschka Fischer, also from the Green Party, visited in 2005. The country has since become one of Germany's main trade partners in Southeast Asia. 

Baerbock's strategy was to emphasize that Germany supports Israel's right to exist and defend itself. 

At the same time, Baerbock underlined that Germany, too, wants the suffering in Gaza to stop, and has urged Israel to show more restraint and try to protect Palestinian civilians.

The German foreign minister also shared the stories she had heard from people while visiting the Middle East.

Baerbock had spoken with the Israeli relatives of Hamas hostages, Egyptian doctors treating Palestinian civilians from Gaza, Palestinian victims of Jewish settler violence in the West Bank, as well as the UN aid workers on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza who say sufficient aid is not reaching the people who need it.

Germany's long game in Southeast Asia

However, Asian countries, even Muslim-majority ones like Malaysia, will not see the Israel-Hamas war as a litmus test for their ties to Germany, according to Felix Heiduk, an Asia expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

"It sits bang in the middle of the Indo-Pacific region, which German foreign policymakers regard as the epicenter of global economic growth in the 21st century, and the region where the US-China rivalry primarily takes place," Heiduk told DW.

He added Germany's growing economic engagement in Southeast Asia is part of diversifying away from China. In turn, Southeast Asian countries are also pursuing hedging strategies, looking to Germany as a partner amid the intensifying US-China rivalry.

Baerbock's meeting with her counterpart in the Philippines, Enrique Manalo, centered on China's aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, where Beijing makes sweeping territorial claims in defiance of international law.

During her visit to Manila, the first by a German foreign minister in over a decade, Baerbock announced fresh aid to the Philippine Coast Guard and called on China to give up expansionist policies and adhere to international law. China reacted promptly, calling on other countries to stay out of regional affairs.

There was no need for Baerbock to explain Germany's position on Israel during this visit, as the Philippines was quick to condemn the Hamas attacks and back Israel's right to self-defense.

Trade comes first

Expert Heiduk said Germany's differences with Southeast Asian countries on assessing conflicts like the Israel-Hamas war remain at the "rhetorical level" without significantly impacting trade and investment ties.

Diplomatically, the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is not even the first hurdle in recent years between Germany and Southeast Asian countries.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine had already raised tensions, with Germany irritated by Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia not condemning the Russian aggression at the United Nations. But this disagreement "didn't mean that Baerbock wouldn't travel there," said Heiduk.

However, Hardt from the CDU said the outcome of Baerbock's trip was "unsatisfactory" in building better trade ties.

"The most important question about free trade agreements remained only a side note on this trip," he said. The opposition politician alleged that the "current federal government's lack of unity is blocking this important tool."

Nevertheless, Germany has begun trying to make up for lost time when it comes to Southeast Asia, at least when it comes to its diplomats and officials traveling to the region.

"It's a part of the world where, as the saying goes, showing up is half the job done," said Heiduk. "I think a lot of the foreign policymakers in the region have a very realistic and very pragmatic outlook on how they conduct international affairs." 

In other words: Israel, Russia and Ukraine are sidenotes in German-Southeast Asia relations. It's all about China, trade and investment — and about showing up in person a little more often than every 10 years.

Edited by: Wesley Rahn