By South China Morning Post | Created at 2026-06-01 09:16:47 | Updated at 2026-06-07 12:59:34
6 days ago
Malaysia faces a dilemma in modernising an ageing military without overwhelming public finances or appearing to choose sides, analysts say
Published: 5:15pm, 1 Jun 2026
Malaysia is unlikely to come close to a US call for Asian partners to spend 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product on defence, analysts have said, as Putrajaya tries to modernise an ageing military without overwhelming public finances or appearing to align with Washington’s China strategy.
Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the US had “every right” to ask allies to raise defence expenditure, but stressed that Malaysia faced limits as a developing economy.
“For a country like Malaysia, we are a small country, we are a developing country, not a developed country,” Mohamed Khaled said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Sunday, adding that Kuala Lumpur also needed to develop other sectors or risk instability.
“It doesn’t mean that we will implement it immediately because America says so,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the security forum.
His remarks came after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Asian allies at the forum to ramp up military spending to as much as 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, partly to counter China’s “historic military build-up”.
Malaysia’s defence ministry received 21.74 billion ringgit (US$5.5 billion) under the 2026 budget, up 2.9 per cent from the previous year, with 6 billion ringgit earmarked for acquiring armed forces assets and equipment.
