Xi and Mahathir have a ‘very special understanding’, Malaysia’s trade minister says

Darell Leiking says doubts about ties between Beijing and Kuala Lumpur would dissipate if naysayers knew what the leaders discussed last year

The accord, he says, stands in sharp contrast to resurgent speculation about a diplomatic chill over stalled Chinese-backed projects in Malaysia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad forged strong ties during a Beijing summit last year that remain today, according to Malaysia’s trade minister Darell Leiking. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 10:00am, 18 Jan 2019Updated: 10:50am, 18 Jan 2019

All doubts about Malaysia’s ties with China would dissipate if naysayers were privy to what was said between the two country’s leaders at their summit in Beijing last year, the Southeast Asian country’s trade minister – present at that event – has said.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Darell Leiking said Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Chinese President Xi Jinping established “a very special understanding” during the meeting last August.

The accord between the two leaders, Leiking said, stood in sharp contrast to resurgent speculation about a diplomatic chill over stalled Chinese-backed projects in his country.

“Xi Jinping and Mahathir have a very special understanding and relationship. Things were said that I cannot reveal, but really good stuff. That’s what I am trying to reassure the world,” Leiking said in the interview at the Post’s Hong Kong newsroom after attending an investors’ conference in the city.

“There may be people who assume that the Chinese will respond in a negative way on the review decisions that we made,” he said.