If 1MDB suspect Jho Low is China’s bargaining chip, what can Malaysia do about it?
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s claim that the financier suspected of masterminding a multibillion-dollar fraud at 1MDB is hiding in China may be aimed at limiting his use to Beijing
The financier Low Taek Jho, commonly known as Jho Low, is suspected of involvement in the same scandal that has seen Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak appear in court charged with more than 20 counts of money-laundering, breach of trust and corruption.
While there has been widespread speculation that Low is hiding out in China, Mahathir’s claims – made at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York – are the most high-profile yet and may prove difficult for China to ignore.
Responding to a question from the floor on Wednesday evening, Mahathir said Malaysia could not ask China to hand Jho Low over because the countries had no extradition treaty.
“It is quite tricky for us to accuse China of hiding him, so we are trying to work out some ways or private efforts to get back Jho Low from China,” he told Malaysian media.
When asked about Low’s claims that he was a Chinese intelligence agent, Mahathir said: “I don’t think so. I don’t think China has any respect for him at all.”
He suggested instead that China had not expelled him because “maybe he’s a bargaining chip or something like that”.