Opinion | For Prime Minister Mohammad Mahathir, revisiting China’s Malaysian projects is part of resetting a relationship
Richard Heydarian writes that the Malaysian PM, traditionally friendly with Beijing, may end some infrastructure projects if terms are not revised
Under Prime Minister Mohammad Mahathir’s second stint in power, Malaysia has begun to radically reassess its traditionally warm relations with China.
As one senior official told me during a recent visit to Kuala Lumpur, Chinese infrastructure projects could be axed amid concerns over economic viability, suffocating debt (US$250 billion), transparency of the contracts and domestic political pressure.
As a result, Malaysia, a top trading and investment partner of China, has surprisingly emerged as a new vortex of scepticism and resistance against Beijing’s growing influence in Southeast Asia.
Initially, many thought that Mahathir’s tough statements on Chinese investments were either election sloganeering to besmirch his China-friendly predecessor or part of a deliberate strategy to renegotiate large-scale infrastructure projects with Beijing for more favourable terms.
After all, the Malaysian prime minister has sung different tunes during his recent interviews, sometimes sounding more sceptical of China, at other times extending an olive branch.