BOMBSHELL – CHINA MOUTHPIECE THREATENS MALAYSIA: RELAX, THEY’RE JUST TESTING TO SEE IF MAHATHIR CAN BE BULLIED

 Global Times, often considered as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, has unleashed its first warning shot at the new government of Malaysia. After 93-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad ditched a planned HSR (high-speed rail) between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, the Chinese media seemed very upset.

The mouthpiece cried, whined and bitched that all the efforts have gone down the drain after Mahathir denied companies from China, Japan, South Korea, Europe, Singapore and Malaysia the opportunity to bid for the RM110 billion project. Global Times also questioned if this is the way the new government of Mahathir keeps its promises over contract.

What type of grass has Global Times been smoking? Perhaps the media can’t differentiate between a communist and a democracy country, for obvious reason. Mahathir is the new prime minister of a new Pakatan Harapan coalition government, NOT the old corrupted Barisan Nasional coalition government. That old regime led by Najib Razak had collapsed.

Therefore, it’s quite an idiotic statement to say Mahathir government has broken his promise. How could Mahathir promise to keep the HSR project when abolishing the high-speed rail has been Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto from the beginning? And how does China know that they will definitely win the project, unless of course, Global Times knew that Beijing had already bribed Najib.

The Chinese media insisted that Malaysia must pay compensation if the new government wants to review the HSR or ECRL projects. It also write – “The Chinese government will also take concrete measures to safeguard the interests and rights of Chinese enterprises.” Did Global Times just threatened to send its mighty military forces to invade Malaysia if the country refuses to pay?

Hmm, perhaps Mahathir should pretend to be panicked and invite the U.S. to setup a military base in Sabah so that U.S. Navy destroyers and aircraft carrier could sail near to China’s man-made islands in Spratly Islands whenever those American sailors have nothing better to do. The Global Times reporter might be clueless that Sabah and Sarawak are part of Malaysia.

The best part of the article, written by Hu Weijia, was when it said – “Chinese-funded projects are not a gift that Kuala Lumpur can refuse without compensation.” Seriously? A gift? Well, nobody in their right mind would refuse a 350-km HSR (RM110 billion) and a 688-km ECRL (RM55 billion) project if they were indeed free gifts from China. Unfortunately, they are not.

The ECRL (East Coast Rail Link) was inflated from an initial RM30 billion to RM55 billion. And that’s just the first phase. The second phase would cost another RM11 billion. By the time the whole project is fully paid off, the white elephant would cost an eye-popping RM92 billion. And it was Beijing who was working hand-in-glove with crook Najib to plunder the country’s national coffers.

The contract for the ECRL was obviously “strange” – the terms state that the contractor must be from China while the borrowings of RM55 billion to fund the project must also come from the country. In fact, the loan for the project is kept abroad, suggesting that the inflated cost was used to pay 1MDB debts and to pay kickbacks to Najib Razak. That is one heck of a hanky-panky deal.

Heck, the contract also included unusual practice such as that payments to China Communications Construction Co Ltd (CCCC) from Export-Import Bank of China are based on a predetermined timetable, and not on the basis of work done. This means even if the Chinese CCCC didn’t do any work at all, they would be paid because the schedule payment says so.

In essence, the RM55 billion loans from China never reached Malaysia banking system. The Chinese bank will pay a Chinese contractor in China. And Malaysia taxpayers would be slapped with the bill for the mega-project. So, which part of the terms looks or smells like a gift to Global Times? Perhaps Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of Global Times, should relook at the half-past-six article.

Amusingly, the article also said – “It’s very easy for Chinese companies to shift their focus to other countries, but Malaysia’s economy is the one that will suffer big losses.” Sure, go ahead and take your money elsewhere. Why do you think Mahathir’s first foreign trip is to Japan, and not China? But hey, relax. Global Times doesn’t necessary represent President Xi Jinping’s final policy.

The mouthpiece is just one of many poodles of Beijing. The media was unleashed specifically to test water – to threaten and scare the shit out of PM Mahathir and see if the old man would chicken out. The same media had bashed Mahathir before he became the world’s oldest prime minister, when he criticised the RM170 billion Forest City as a threat to national sovereignty.

Get real, China will not invade Malaysia over cancellation of HSR or renegotiation of ECRL project. Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia, Bai Tian, has announced that 3 Chinese enterprises have invested RM1.2 billion in Malaysia in the first week following the formation of the new government. They would not burn the bridge after 44 years of mutually-benefiting cooperation between both nations.

The ECRL project was not really about business decision. It was about geo-political needs for China. It just happen that the scumbag Najib was so corrupted that he was willing to sell anything to China, hence Beijing played along. The success of ECRL is of paramount important to China largely because about 80% of the world’s maritime trade between east and west passes through the Straits of Malacca.

The project will connect ports on the east and west coasts of Peninsular Malaysia and will essentially alter the present regional trade routes, which ply between the busy Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea via Singapore. However, Singapore, sitting in a strategic position along the east-west route, is no friend of China but a proxy of rival United States.

The ECRL acts as a land bridge between Port Klang and Kuantan Port, and will enable China-bound goods from Port Klang, inland and the north to be moved to Kuantan Port, without having to go south to Singapore. In fact, the state is reclaiming land along the Straits of Malacca to build a port to offer oil storage, repair and refuelling services for huge tankers.

More importantly, there’s one secret reason why China desperately needs ECRL project to be successful. Thanks to Americans’ consistent intimidation in the South China Sea, China realized that a simple blockade of the Strait of Malacca by the U.S. and its alliance will cut China off from Middle East oil supplies and from its “Second Continent” Africa.

Just like China’s first permanent overseas military in Djibouti, China needs Port Klang and Kuantan Port to serve as its logistics centre for whatever purpose. Therefore, it’s bullshit when Global Times said China is more than happy to shift its focus to other countries. China needs ECRL as much as Mahathir needs to re-negotiate the “very damaging” terms signed by Najib Razak.

Mahathir knew how important ECRL project is to China from the geo-political perspective. He also knew government to government contracts usually had a mechanism to resolve dispute such as the current one. Besides, Mahathir can always refer the matter to international arbitration because such contract will usually have a clause to allow one party to do so.

The question is this – is China willing to re-negotiate terms of contract or risk having the project terminated early with Malaysia willing to pay the compensation? China has to decide if money is more important than its OBOR (One Belt One Road) initiative in the region. Mahathir can always get soft-loan from Japan to help lift the burden of debts.

– Finance Twitter