China’s dominance in the South China Sea appears to have not perturbed former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who believes Beijing is an ally in Asia and should not be viewed as a threat.
The elder statesman who has an uncanny ability to dissect global and regional issues with a breeze adds that China does not harbour military intentions in the region but instead, it is a country that wants to work with ASEAN countries with its commercial goals in mind.
Malaysia is surrounded by very powerful countries, of which China is one but for Mahathir, the fact that China never colonised any countries in the region speaks volumes.
“We were not colonised by them. You (Americans and Europeans) came here from 1000 miles away and colonised us. Although China is big and powerful, it does not colonise. The Chinese want to make use of you to make money for themselves. And you know the Chinese, they are very good at making money. You have to accept that,”
Nevertheless, with his trademark sarcasm, he tells Business Today that China claims the South China Sea as theirs because of its name.
NO TRADE DISRUPTIONS
In all seriousness, Mahathir is of the view that China has done nothing to disrupt the prized trade routes in the South China Sea.
For him, the fact that there are no blockades and Beijing does not send its troops to impose a curfew or stop vessels loaded with containers from cruising through the seas shows China’s real intentions in the disputed waters.
“Although they claim the South China Sea belongs to them, they have not done anything to trample the business in the shipping lanes. They don’t stop ships to examine or tax you. We (Malaysia) have an Island that we have reclaimed and is still there,” he points out.
For him, it is not the Chinese who are causing the problems in the region, it is the Americans who are trying to impose their rule on Asia.
China’s influence in the global supply chain is evident, to the point where it is now a major economic force, which has not gone unnoticed to Tun Mahathir.
If you plan and scheme against China, you will lose a major market, according to the elderly statesman who led Malaysia with an iron fist from the 1980s to the early 2000s.
Mahathir mentions the CPTPP, originally known as the TPPA, and expresses his concern that the trade and investment pact was intended solely to challenge China’s growth as a global economic powerhouse.
“Well, you know, China is a big economic power, when you design things against it and you lose a huge market. So I was not keen on the TPP because it excludes China.”
With his renewed concerns about the US’s involvement in the region, it’s only logical for Mahathir to say that ASEAN, and Malaysia in particular, could be jeopardised if they support the US in any policy.
The Americans are against China’s rise and want to compete with Beijing on all fronts.
“But should we become America’s allies? Or China’s allies?” asks Mahathir, who believes the region and Malaysia should remain neutral at best in this ongoing conflicting situation.
His proposal to end the long-drawn conflict in the region is for Malaysia to revisit the old policies of keeping both America and China at bay.
For the staunch Asian leader, there is no point in backing a country that comes from afar in a different continent because this will not bode well for the region.
“If they want to fight China, let them fight, we are not going to fight the battle for them,” he said during the interview conducted at the Perdana Putra Foundation located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
FIERCELY INDEPENDENT
The location right next to the famous Dataran Merdeka has great significance for Tun Mahathir as it is here the first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman proclaimed the independence of the nation.
Mahathir, the man who took the country out of the agricultural age, turning it into a modern and vibrant nation was the architect of industrialisation and under his stewardship, Malaysia became the first country in the region to open up to foreign direct investment.
Under his stewardship, Malaysia ushered in an era of prosperity and he laid down the foundations of a modern state that has since seen major structural defects.
In his first reign as Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir allowed American FDIs to flow into the country but Malaysia became a very close ally of the Japanese.
The ties with Tokyo got Mahathir going with a national car project that was rigged with weaknesses and limited in scale. But that did not stop this move to create a successful automotive industry in Malaysia.
This was the age of some technology transfer success from the Japanese to the Malaysians but it did not last forever.
Today, Mahathir says, the country has a weak government that does not analyse anything properly. “And, you know, governments can change policies but we should be friends with everyone.”
“We have to accept China. China is a part of the world.”
