Advertisement
Malaysia’s seizure of Chinese pipeline firm’s assets not a slight on Beijing, says finance minister Lim Guan Eng
- Lim told parliament the sequestration of US$240 million from a bank account of China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering was ‘company specific’
- Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad confirmed the seizure on Monday, saying Kuala Lumpur was only taking back money for work that had not been done
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Malaysia’s recent seizure of US$240 million from the bank account of a state-linked Chinese pipeline builder following cancellations of two major projects last year is “company specific” and not meant to slight Beijing, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said on Wednesday.
Advertisement
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad confirmed the seizure on Monday, claiming that he saw no reason for China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering (CPP) to be unhappy about the government action because Kuala Lumpur was only “taking back” money for work “they have not done”.
That elicited a response from Beijing, with Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang saying on Tuesday that the mainland government hoped for a “friendly consultation” on the matter, to which Mahathir responded that Malaysia was ready to hold talks, according to state news agency Bernama.
Mahathir cancelled the two pipelines, worth some US$2.3 billion, last year after it was revealed that 80 per cent of China-Exim Bank loans undertaken by the previous administration had been disbursed even though only 13 per cent of the development was completed.
Advertisement
The Mahathir administration, victors in a general election last May, has publicly said empty state coffers were behind its decision to axe the projects.
Advertisement