PAS to Umno: Why sign deals with Communist China?
The Islamist party refuses to let the issue rest, and asks Umno why several MoUs were inked with China, a country which once supported the Malayan Communist Party.
(Free Malaysia Today) – The communist issue was bought up again today but this time, instead of the Mat Indera fiasco, Umno’s ties with Communist China was questioned in parliament today.
Pokok Sena MP Mahfuz Omar asked deputy minister of foreign affairs, Richard Riot, how Malaysia could have diplomatic ties with a country that aided the Malaysian Communist Party (MCP).
“How could Umno have ties with a country which at one point was behind the MCP?” he asked when it was revealed that both countries have signed several Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on trade and other matters.
Mahfuz zeroed in on Umno, saying that the party had signed a separate MoU with Communist China. He was referring to the MoU which Umno and the Communist Party of China (CPC) signed in 2010 for their youth wings to have leadership exchanges.
The deputy minister, who is also Serian MP, however said that the MoU was a Barisan National (BN) affair and not an Umno deal, and struggled to draw the difference between an established communist country and one that is perceived as one.
“Initially they (China) practised a closed door policy but now even Communist countries have an open door policy, so we (Malaysia) do not have a problem with that,” said Riot.
Later at a press conference, Mahfuz said that the whole matter revealed Umno’s hypocrisy.
