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Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad threatens to buy fighter jets from China if EU maintains palm oil restrictions
- Malaysia and Indonesia have clashed with EU lawmakers over the crop’s cultivation
- Mahathir said he was not ‘declaring war’ on the EU as his country needed goods from the bloc
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Malaysia may retaliate against a plan by the European Union to curb palm oil use, by purchasing new fighter jets from China instead of European arms companies, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Sunday.
The Southeast Asian country is the world’s second-largest palm oil producer after neighbouring Indonesia, and recently threatened to challenge the bloc’s plan to phase out its use in biofuels at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Both Malaysia and Indonesia have been at loggerheads with EU lawmakers over the crop’s cultivation, which has caused rampant deforestation and destruction of wildlife.
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In his strongest statement yet on the proposed curbs, Mahathir suggested his country could look elsewhere to upgrade its ageing air force fleet of Russian MiG-29 fighters – in effect abandoning plans to purchase France’s Rafale jet or the Eurofighter Typhoon.
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“If they keep on taking action against us, we will think of buying airplanes from China or any other country,” he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency. “If we have to buy fighter jets, we will consider these China-made jets.”
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