Dr M heaps praise on China and FDI but ...

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had often criticised the increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) from China in Malaysia.

But in last night’s forum titled “China’s Investments: Is It Too Much?”, the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairperson had nothing but praise for China.

“We are not anti-Chinese or anti-China. I am very proud that China has shown the West that what the West can do, China can do and do it better.

“This is the Asian century. The world which has been Euro-centric for 400 years will now become Asian-centric, and that is because of countries like China,” Mahathir said in his speech in the forum at Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) last night.

He related a story of a conversation he had with the late Singaporean premier Lee Kuan Yew, his “good friend”, where Lee had once told him that there is no need to be afraid of China.

“(He said) they are so backwards, they cannot even do anything. They are far behind us. But Lee never imagined the progress that can be made by China.

“Even in Malaysia, the Chinese are the most dynamic. What we see around us are mainly from the Chinese community,” he said.

He also pointed out that Malaysia has had relations with China for 2,000 years, but throughout that period, China has never tried to colonise this country, unlike European countries.

“Who should we be more afraid of? China who is nearer but has never tried to colonise us? Or the Europeans, who are 8,000 miles away, but once they come to Malaysia, they start to colonise us?” he said.

Malaysia has also benefitted a lot from FDI in the past, he said, adding that Malaysia has always welcomed such investments.

However, he said, FDI does not include “buying up huge pieces of land in Malaysia to build great cities which Malaysians cannot afford to pay for”.

When this happens, he said, these cities will have to be sold to foreigners.

“So when Malaysia feels worried about Forest City, it is not that we do not welcome FDI. We do welcome it, but this is different,” he said, referring to the multi-billion ringgit mega-development project in Johor Baru.

If Pakatan Harapan were to capture Putrajaya in the next general election, he said such projects which involve huge investments or loans from China, including the RM55-billion East Coast Railway Link (ECRL) and the RM40-billion high-speed rail link to Singapore, would have to be re-negotiated.

A lot of these projects, he said, are wasteful and unnecessary, so there may even be a need to cancel some of these projects and pay compensation.

“But it is better to pay compensation than to carry this horribly huge borrowing that this government has done.

“It is going to take us more than 50 years of tightening our belts in order to pay for this loan.

“So we will negotiate whether we will put a stop to this ECRL or the high-speed train. It is not necessary,” he said.

'Information elusive'

The forum, organised by Institut Rakyat, also featured speakers such as PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar and prominent economists KS Jomo and Azrul Azwar.

During the forum, Nurul Izzah lamented that they simply do not have enough information about these projects to analyse them further as it is the cabinet who approves these projects.

“We talk about the numerous projects and agreements. It is difficult for us to get a list.

“Usually as an MP, we can get various documents and discuss the issues,” the Lembah Pantai MP said.

However, she said, information about more obscure projects like the Bagan Datoh port is also not readily available to them.

As such, she said there is a dire need for a parliamentary committee to be formed to further discuss and scrutinise these Chinese mega-projects in Malaysia. - Mkini