Puad rubbishes claim BN delegation influenced by communism during China trip

 

Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi (fourth from left) with the BN delegation at the Beijing Municipal Party Committee School on Monday. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi has brushed off claims by Perikatan Nasional (PN) that he and a Barisan Nasional (BN) delegation may have been influenced by communist ideology during a recent visit to China.

Puad said the visit, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Malaysia-China ties, was aimed at learning about China’s modernisation efforts and technological advancements.

He said top PN leaders such as chairman Muhyiddin Yassin and secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin also participated in such trips when they were with Umno, adding that Muhyiddin was not accused of being aligned with communist ideology despite visiting Beijing in 2011 and 2014.

We didn’t learn about communist ideology. The topics centred around the modernisation of China, how China trains and selects its leaders, and social media literacy,

 said Puad in a Facebook post.

There are a lot of things that we can emulate and tweak … but not their (communist) ideology.

He said the delegation was impressed with China’s technological advancements in artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and autonomous driving.

Earlier today, the Johor PN chapter filed a police report against Puad after claiming he would spread communist ideology among Johor Umno members and the state legislative assembly, where Puad is the speaker, after the trip to China.

Johor Bersatu chairman Dr Sahruddin Jamal told reporters the police report was based on Puad’s recent Facebook posts, including one in which he visited the Beijing Municipal Party Committee School on Monday. - FMT