China refused to lend Malaysia the US40 billion requested by Mahathir
The Third Force
On the 20th of August 2018, Mahathir warned the Chinese against “a new version of colonialism” in what the Financial Times opined was “a pointed expression of Asian unease about China’s increasing economic and political influence in the region.”
However, Chinese premier Li Keqiang was not at all pleased with Mahathir’s “colonialism” slur and made it clear that terms associated with the ECRL and gas pipeline projects were not up for review.
A well-placed source informed The Third Force that Mahathir went on to seek a whopping US40 billion loan from Chinese president Xi Jinping on grounds that Malaysia would face trouble paying compensations should the Chinese-backed projects be cancelled.
Xi, however, was quick to point out that the idea of using money borrowed from China to pay China made no logical or ethical sense whatsoever and reminded Mahathir that the latter’s administration had repeatedly questioned China’s business ethics.
He then gave a firm “no” to the Malaysian premier’s request for a long-term loan and offered instead time for Malaysia to decide on the status of the projects.
On the 29th of May 2014, former Malaysian premier Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak was accorded a grand welcome befitting a state leader at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. Then premier, Najib, who led a 15-member delegation to the People’s Republic of China, was accompanied by Chinese premier Li Keqiang when inspecting a guard-of-honour mounted by officers and men from the country’s three military services. A 19-gun salute followed the inspection ceremony before the national anthems of both countries were played. When Dr Mahathir Mohamad arrived at the gates of the hall on Monday, nothing of that sort ever happened to him.
But that is as far as the similarities go. Not only was the guard of honour that greeted him far less elaborate than the one Najib inspected, the welcoming ceremony that received him was held indoors without the accompanying volleys of a 19-gun salute. A check by our team revealed that the weather at the western edge of Tiananmen Square was a fine 32 degrees, sunny and perfect for rolling out the red carpet. No matter how we looked at it, there seemed absolutely no reason for the Chinese not to accord Mahathir the same class of honour Najib received back in 2014, and again, in November 2016.
