Exclusive | What Malaysia’s Mahathir really plans for China-backed projects (but can’t admit to in public)
Sources say Malaysian leader’s flip-flopping on controversial multibillion-dollar deals is a front to save face for Beijing. East Coast Rail Link and gas pipeline will be cancelled, KL to Singapore high-speed rail deferred
Cancelled, deferred, or postponed indefinitely?
But sources close to 93-year-old Mahathir say that while in public he may have been vague about the fate of the projects, in private he is crystal clear.
The sources – directly involved in talks over the future of the Chinese-backed projects – say Mahathir is absolutely firm on permanently cancelling the US$20 billion East Coast Rail Link and two natural gas pipelines worth US$2.3 billion, even though he continued to suggest they may be deferred.
Meanwhile, the high-speed rail project between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore – a multibillion-dollar project still to be awarded that has attracted interest from Chinese enterprises – will be deferred for two years rather than cancelled, as Mahathir had claimed, the sources say.
Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali will be in Singapore on Wednesday and Thursday for final talks before signing an agreement on deferring the rail project. Malaysia faces a hefty reimbursement fee if it terminates the deal with its closest neighbour.