Chan Ming Kai: Asia Has Already Offered Answers for a New World Order

On May 31, 2026, the 52nd anniversary of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China, the launch of the Chinese edition of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s book The Asian Renaissance and the China–ASEAN Cultural Heritage Dialogue were held in Kuala Lumpur.

Chan Ming Kai, political secretary to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, attended the event and delivered remarks on behalf of Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and Anwar’s spouse. He said Malaysia-China relations have long gone beyond economic and trade cooperation, and expressed hope that Asia’s civilizational heritage and wisdom could contribute to a more peaceful and orderly world.

The following is the full text of the remarks, compiled from the speech delivered at the event:

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This year marks the 52nd anniversary of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China. Today is not merely a diplomatic occasion. It is a remarkable day for us to witness the emergence of an important issue. 

When we speak of the Renaissance, let us first go back to its origins in Europe. The Renaissance at that time was, in many ways, a response to the tensions of the 14th to 16th centuries. Humanity was trying to recover from the long centuries of the Middle Ages. As a result, several important changes took place.

The first was in the field of art. Before that, much of the art was only represented by religious leaders. During the Renaissance, however, people began to shift the focus of art, not only to God or religious leaders, but also to human beings themselves. Great artists such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci represented one of the important progresses in human history.

The second was a revolution in science. Before that time, much of the world was defined by religious authority. But during the Renaissance, people began to use science to understand and prove things. They learned to define the world through logic, experiment, and empirical understanding. This became one of the ways in which human beings sought to understand the world, not only through religion, but also through observation and reason.

The third important change was reform and revolution within religion itself. People were willing to revisit and reflect on religion at that particular time. Human beings began to ask themselves: if religion does not bring happiness and goodness to human beings, what is the purpose of religion? During those two centuries, people suffered from wars, conflicts, and pandemics. This was how the Renaissance came into being. It marked a shift from an exclusive focus on religion to a more people-centered way of thinking through reflection on art, science, and religion. This did not mean that people abandoned religion. Rather, they sought to understand that the purpose of religion should be the happiness and well-being of human beings.

Now, let us return to the Asian Renaissance. To define Asia, we may define countries by boundaries. We may also define Asia as a geographical region. But to define the Renaissance in Asia, we are not speaking about one particular country or one particular region. We are speaking about the civilizational power that has emerged from this part of the world.

Many of the world’s most prominent and important religions began in Asia. In the broader Asian region, we find Islam and Christianity, Hinduism, Chinese civilization, and special philosophical traditions such as Confucianism. All these emerged from Asia.

So what will define our Renaissance as Asians? For me, I understand it in this way. The people of this region have experienced both security and insecurity, conflicts and wars between countries and civilizations. We have also suffered from pandemics. Even today, amid wars and conflicts between the West and the East, we cannot remain untouched. At the same time, we have also gone through colonization and have since emerged as strong economies and regions.

Therefore, our Renaissance today should be about understanding how to draw on Asian knowledge and philosophy, rooted in these civilizations, so that Asia can emerge as a strong region, but also as a balanced and moderate one. It should be a region defined by mutual understanding, cooperation, vision, and protection, and it should offer a model for the world. This is the meaning of the Asian Renaissance from the Asian perspective.

This is why it is important that, after 30 years, this book, The Asian Renaissance, is being republished. Let us look at what is happening in the world today. Wars are still taking place in the Middle East and elsewhere. We cannot detach ourselves from these conflicts, because the world is deeply interconnected. A war in one place may cause supply-chain problems in another.

What we see today is the disintegration of the old superpower order. No country can still claim that it alone should dominate the world.

Then what comes next? What comes next is that we must propose a new world order for the world. Now is the time for us to advance the Asian Renaissance as a solution for the world.

In Asia, we have many countries. We may have differences and even small conflicts among ourselves, but we seek to solve them in a spirit of mutual respect. We solve them among ourselves through better and more peaceful approaches. This is what we should present, propose, and offer to the world.

After the disintegration of the superpower order, what comes next can be our Asian Renaissance. Compared with Europe in the past, where the Renaissance represented a movement from religious authoritarianism to a more human-centered approach, we are now proposing a new idea for the coming world order.

This new order should include abundant economic progress, but development must also include good governance. Having strong finances and a strong economy does not mean abandoning the poor. On the contrary, we should be able to present to the world a better order, including here in Asia.

Therefore, The Asian Renaissance, written by the Prime Minister, remains relevant today, and it will be even more relevant in the future. It is a great honor to see this book republished today, especially for many future readers in China. I hope this will help us engage more people across the region.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The publication of this book today does more than mark 52 years of cooperation between Malaysia and China. It also carries a special significance for international relations, especially here in Asia.

Fifty-two years ago, Malaysia and China established diplomatic relations. Over the years, we went on to build stronger trade ties, and later elevated our relationship to a strategic partnership. Today, however, this book speaks to something beyond the friendship between our two countries. It shows that when the thinking of national leaders resonates, the ideas and visions they put forward are no longer confined to one country or even to one region.

Malaysia has put forward the idea of the Asian Renaissance, drawing in many ways on the historical experience of the Renaissance. Today, as we witness the fragmentation and disruption of the world order, what we need is an order that is stable yet remains firmly anchored in justice.

In seeking such an order, we do not have to look for something entirely new. Within Asia’s own civilizational traditions, we already have rich philosophical resources from which to draw, including Islamic civilization and Confucian civilization.

In the same spirit, China has put forward the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind. This is not a vision for China alone. It is a vision for Asia, and indeed for the broader landscape of international relations.

Just imagine: Malaysia and China have moved from ordinary state-to-state relations to a shared vision for Asia and for the future of the world order. What does this mean? It means that beyond the friendship between our two countries, the time has come for Malaysia and China, at the level of national leadership, to bring together the thinking of the Asian Renaissance and the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, so that together we may help guide Asia and contribute to the restoration of a more peaceful global order. This is the contribution that Malaysia and China can make to the world. It shows that our relationship has reached a much higher level.

Therefore, on this important occasion marking the 52nd anniversary of Malaysia-China diplomatic relations, we should take a moment to reflect. We are no longer friends simply because we do business together. We are friends because we share a commitment to a better and more peaceful order for the world. We seek to promote the great civilizations of Asia, and to bring forward the civilizational values and wisdom we have inherited from the past, so that the world may draw on them in shaping a more meaningful order, not only for Asia, but for humanity as a whole. To me, this represents a more important level of cooperation.

I would therefore like to express my sincere thanks to all the institutions and individuals who have made the republication of this book possible, and who have helped organize today’s important Dialogue on China-ASEAN Cultural Heritage. This dialogue is not simply about learning about different cultures. It is about identifying the common ground in our ways of thinking, and bringing these ideas together into a new vision that we can offer to the world.

Once again, I would like to thank all the participating institutions, and all those who, even after 30 years, have remained committed to bringing this important book back to readers.

On behalf of the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim, and also Dato’ Seri Dr. Wan Azizah, I would like to thank the organizers for this important event. I also wish to extend their warm greetings to all of you.

Thank you all for your efforts today. We hope that today’s launch will inspire more dialogue among civilizations and contribute to the cause of world peace.

It is therefore my honor and great pleasure to officially launch the Chinese edition of The Asian Renaissance and the Dialogue on China-ASEAN Cultural Heritage.

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