Malaysia’s Mahathir backs China’s belt and road but insists on open trade routes
- The leader has turned from vocal critic to firm supporter of Beijing’s grand plan after a rejigged rail link deal
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad gave China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” his “full support” after successfully renegotiating the cost of a rail link project.
But he also stressed at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Friday that freedom of passage on both sea and land should be respected.
“I am fully in support of the Belt and Road Initiative. I am sure my country, Malaysia, will benefit from the project,” said Mahathir, one of 37 foreign leaders at the event.
The backing from the 93-year-old Malaysian leader comes after China agreed last month to a 30 per cent cut in the US$20 billion price tag for the East Coast Rail Link.
Following his election last year, Mahathir warned that his administration might cancel the high-speed line stretching from Malaysia’s border with Thailand in the east to the strategic shipping routes of the Strait of Malacca in the west. The project would connect the South China Sea – a highly contested waterway – with around half a dozen other Southeast Asian nations.
Mahathir was then one of the most vocal critics among those whose countries had signed up for China’s multibillion-dollar infrastructure drive, warning of “new colonialism” and “debt-trap diplomacy”.