I’ll buy planes from China? Maybe not, says Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad – but EU should still rethink its war on palm oil
- The Malaysian prime minister says the European Union’s planned ban on palm oil will provoke a backlash – even if it’s not the one he originally claimed
- Malaysia and Indonesia are teaming up to oppose an EU plan to phase out palm oil in biofuels by 2030
“We have to make known the problems we face when [European countries] take actions against us,” he told reporters at the 2019 Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition on Tuesday. “What I was doing was telling the world that it is grossly unfair for rich countries to prevent poor countries from getting richer by not buying their products. That was all.”
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“If [the EU] keeps on taking action against us through our palm oil products and tries to impoverish us, we will have to think of buying aeroplanes from China or others. Chinese technology may be even more advanced than that of Europe,” he had said at the time, adding Malaysia did not need sophisticated jets as it was not a warlike nation.
Although he has since walked back that statement, saying it was “only a suggestion” and that Malaysia may not buy any jets at all, the Southeast Asian leader maintains the EU’s planned regulations are unfair and would see a backlash across the region.
Malaysia and Indonesia – the world’s two largest palm oil producers, accounting for 80 per cent of the global supply – have resolved to team up to contest the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive II (RED II), with Mahathir and Indonesian President Joko Widodo saying last year they were “facing the same problem”.