Zaid: A vote for BN is a vote for more Chinese control

PETALING JAYA: Zaid Ibrahim has issued a warning to voters, especially those in rural areas, that a vote for Barisan Nasional (BN) is a vote for China to eventually rule over Malaysia.

Referring to a speech he made recently in the small towns of Temangan and Semerak in Kelantan, the former minister said that this is because “Umno/BN has a special relationship with China and the Communist party”.

“Today we only send delegates to the Communist party’s Congress but tomorrow, China will instruct us on what are the policies we need, and how our country will be run,” Zaid said in his latest blog post, referring to reports that an Umno representative was sent to address the 19th Communist Party of China’s (CPC) national congress held on Oct 18.

“Therefore, a vote for Najib is a vote for foreign control and hegemony over us.”

Zaid was responding to comments from the outgoing Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang who said last Friday that China was not interested in “grabbing” Malaysian land.

Huang was quoted as saying that if China wanted to grab land, it would have done so “600 years ago” and that invading other countries was “not part of Chinese genes”.

“If you know our history, you would not accuse China of invading or grabbing the land of others, unlike Western powers. We have never done so and never will,” he was quoted as saying by Sin Chew Daily.

However, Zaid took the stand that China will one day have too much responsibility over the Malaysian economy due to the level of debt that the country continues to accumulate.

“The outgoing Chinese ambassador’s protestation that China is not interested to ‘occupy’ Malaysia is hollow.

“Eventually, we will depend on China to salvage Felda and Mara, because we have no money left to do it on our own.

“China will one day pay for our salaries because we have already reached the ceiling of our national debt in relation to our GDP,” he said.

Warning of the irreversible effects of “China’s control over Malaysia’, Zaid said that is the only outcome should Prime Minister Najib Razak remain in power.

Zaid, who joined DAP earlier this year, also said that his concern stems from the fact that today, China is the country we depend on to build our housing, industries, supermarkets, railroads, ports, and energy sector.

“They will undertake all the big projects and the big supermarkets, which most of our people cannot afford to patronise.

“They will ‘help’ the country as we go along, but only if it’s beneficial to them.”

He also warned of how former 1MDB asset, Edra Energy, which is now 100% owned by China, will be able to dictate to Tenaga Nasional how much tariff we the consumers must pay for electricity.

“Also, Malaysia Airlines now flies to more destinations in China than any other international airline, and it’s likely that China will soon dictate where MAS’s next destinations will be, as if it were a China domestic airline,” Zaid said, before blaming Najib for introducing the Musang King breed of durians to China, which has caused a surge in prices for the fruit in Malaysia. -FMT