Samurai bonds, review of China-backed projects won't affect Malaysia-China ties, says Tan

SEPANG: The review and suspension of several China-linked mega projects in Malaysia and the issuance of "Samurai Bonds" by the Japanese government will not affect the bilateral relations between China and Malaysia, says Malaysia's Special Envoy to China Tan Kok Wai.

"Based on my observations, the enquiries we have received from Chinese companies which want to invest here over the past few months has been tremendous," he told reporters after launching a tree-planting campaign at the Xiamen University Malaysia campus here on Sunday (Nov 11).

He said these companies were from various sectors including high technology, e-commerce and agriculture.

"They want to know more about the Malaysian market. We have been busy providing assistance to them," he added.

.Tan said his team also prepared guidebooks for these companies to learn more about the local market and regulations.

"The overall relations will not be affected by the review of a few projects.

"Like what Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad mentioned, besides learning from Japan, the Look East Policy (2.0) also includes South Korea and China," he said.

"Please bear in mind that Dr Mahathir's first official visit after he was sworn in as the Prime Minister was to China. The good relations between Malaysia and China can be traced back to a few hundreds years ago," he said, adding that Malaysia is the first South-East Asian country to establish a diplomatic relationship with China back in 1974.

Tan was responding to a question on whether the issuance of Samurai Bonds which will be guaranteed by the Japanese Government, would affect the relations between Malaysia and China.

Japan is often seen as a rival to China, as both countries vie for dominance in South-East Asia.

When tabling Budget 2019, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng revealed that the Japanese government had offered to guarantee up to ¥200bil for the issuance of 10-year Samurai bonds via the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) at an indicative coupon rate of 0.65% to be issued before March next year.- Star