Indonesia's toxic haze is giving its neighbours a political headache

In contrast, Malaysia's official rhetoric on the haze has been relatively muted.Its foreign minister Mohamad Hasan has ruled out lodging a formal diplomatic protest with Indonesia or taking legal action, saying such actions "would mean we were prepared to sever relations".For now, Malaysia has agreed to explore a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia to strengthen wildfire prevention efforts.It would also rely on diplomatic mechanisms, Mohamad said - like the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.The agreement, which came into effect in 2003, commits members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to collaborate on tackling the recurring haze.But many see it as toothless, as it is unable to punish agricultural companies linked to wildfires or to force individual governments to do so.The agreement has turned out to be "just not worth the paper it was signed on", says James Chin, professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania."The moment the haze disappears, the moment the political pressure's off, it's back to business as usual."In 2016, Asean countries had set a goal to eliminate haze in the region by 2020. When that deadline drifted quietly b...