Kuala Lumpur: Of all the public statements and speeches from Anwar Ibrahim in his three days hosting this year’s ASEAN summit, it may have been his very last – late on Tuesday – that meant the most to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“I will do my part,” the Malaysian prime minister said. “Because I think it is important for all of us to express – whether publicly or privately or whatever form – our concern that this region must remain free.”

Anwar’s words, with Albanese at the podium next to him, were a response to a question from Australian journalists about an October 19 incident in which a Chinese aircraft deployed flares near an Australian plane patrolling the South China Sea, a vast area that China illegitimately claims almost wholly for itself.

Anwar was expressing

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