Malaysia flags US-backed Philippine base near Sabah
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- Anwar Ibrahim raised concern over the Philippine base on Balabac island — citing a territorial dispute over Sabah, which joined the federation in 1963 and to which Manila still maintains a claim — even as he stressed bilateral ties remain "very good."
- The Philippines is upgrading Balabac into a forward operating base with a 3km airstrip, one of nine sites covered by the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) under which Washington had allocated more than US$100 million for infrastructure as of 2023.
- During Balikatan drills in May, US, Philippine and Australian forces practised seizing and holding Balabac's airfield, while the US Army deployed HIMARS rocket launchers for live-fire strikes against simulated maritime targets offshore.
- Anwar conceded Malaysia could not match Balabac's scale and said bolstering basic defences could require "hundreds of millions or billions of ringgit" in additional spending.
- The Balabac-Sabah proximity revives memories of the 2013 standoff, when armed followers of a self-proclaimed Sulu sultanate heir invaded eastern Sabah, triggering more than a month of fighting — though Manila itself did not take part.
- On the same Aug 18 budget event, Malaysia and the Philippines nonetheless agreed to deepen cooperation on security and economic issues, underscoring that the concern is rhetorical positioning rather than a rupture in ties.
Why it matters: Anwar's public flagging of a US-funded Philippine facility 20 minutes from Malaysian territory forces Kuala Lumpur into a costly catch-up: matching the build-up could cost billions of ringgit, while accepting the gap leaves Sabah exposed — and comes as his ruling coalition already faces setbacks in state elections.
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