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As Malaysia begins negotiations with China on billions of dollars of Chinese-led public service projects, the result will be a litmus test of the Beijing Belt and Road Initiative (BIS). ] How China deals with Malaysia will greatly contribute to determining the international perceptions of the IRB, which has raised suspicion and criticism among some members of the global community.
There are reasons to worry. As Asia Sentinel reported on July 9, a long list of countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and others ended up in debt with the United States. Ex-Im Bank and other Chinese financial institutions.
They found that renegotiating the debt with China is difficult. And in some of these countries, their leaders have discovered that the financial debt translates into a worrying political debt as Beijing expands its hegemony in the region. The new Malaysian government, which came to power on May 9 after ending more than six decades of government by Barisan Nasional, could learn what Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Montenegro in particular have learned: The Belt Initiative and Road begged
Malaysian officials are expected to visit China in the coming weeks. At a press conference on July 6, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced that he was planning to visit China in August to discuss Chinese projects funded largely by Chinese state-owned banks after the fall of former Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Check Your Pockets …
"There are several issues to raise, including unfair contract terms and also loans," Mahathir said. "The interest also concerns us because the interest is much higher than when the government borrows."
The day before, the Finance Ministry confirmed that the Malaysian government had suspended three projects supported by China worth more than 22 billion dollars. . They include the East Coast Rail Link, estimated by the Ministry of Finance at US $ 20 billion, and two pipelines estimated at US $ 2.7 billion built by the China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau.
These two pipelines are overseen by Suria Strategic Energy Resources (SSER), an agency of the Ministry of Finance of Malaysia. Also on July 5, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, appointed by the new administration to replace Najib, who had led the ministry in addition to his role as prime minister, confirmed that a fourth project related to China was a pipeline of $ 813 million. At the July 6 press conference, Mahathir said Daim Zainuddin, who headed the ministry during Mahathir's previous prime minister, will go ahead of him in China to negotiate China-backed contracts. Shortly after winning the Malaysian elections on May 9, Mahathir appointed Daim to head the Council of Eminent Persons, an agency that advises the new Malaysian coalition government.
Mahathir announced on June 6 that Lim, with a fight against Malaysian corruption Commission officers (MACC) will travel to China to discuss SES pipeline projects
The fact that three senior Malay officials are surrendering in China indicates the importance that the Malaysian government accords China and the difficulty of renegotiating these
The announcement of the accompaniment of anti-corruption officials in the Lim trip to China suggests that the Malaysian government suspects corruption in the SES pipeline projects. Lim said on June 11 that a report had been filed with the MACC on the NESS projects. On the same day, Lim disclosed that the MACC had invaded the NESS office and that the Malaysian Ministry of Finance was forming a committee to investigate these projects.
As Chinese leaders meet Mahathir, Daim and Lim, the Chinese government has to prove its commitment. the rule of law and the fight against corruption in belt and road projects
The Forum on Belt and Road Legal Cooperation, held in Beijing on 2 and 3 July, said his fight against corruption. The statement from the co-chairs of the forum, which brought together more than 350 delegates from China and other countries, said: "We call on the parties participating in the IRB to jointly strengthen anti-corruption cooperation, on the of the United Nations Convention against Corruption and other international conventions and bilateral treaties. "
In September 2017 in Beijing, the World Bank and a Chinese anti-corruption agency, the Central Commission for the Control of Corruption. discipline, organized a seminar on international cooperation. It is interesting to note that the World Bank was a partner in this anti-corruption seminar, as the multilateral lender had blocked China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) from January 12, 2009 to January 11, 2017 for fraudulent practices. CCCC, a Chinese state-owned company listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai, was the prime contractor of the east coast rail link, which will link the east and west coasts of Peninsular Malaysia to the railway. . The exclusion of CCCC from the World Bank and all its subsidiaries was related to a project of a subsidiary of CCCC, China Road and Bridge Corporation in the Philippines.
Although no fraud or corruption has been found in CCCC's East Coast Rail Link, critics argue that the project is several times larger than similar railway projects. Lim said the East Coast Rail Link can not continue unless its price is lowered.
All companies and individuals are presumed innocent until proven otherwise, but if Malaysian investigations reveal corruption among Chinese companies or executives, take full effect. After all, in the ongoing anti-corruption campaign in China, Xi has not spared Chinese senior officials after being convicted of bribery.
Liu Qitao, chairman of the CCCC, said he was not worried about the Malaysian government's development. In a speech at the Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong on June 28, Liu said that CCCC is helping Malaysia's development.
"If we do not benefit the country and the local environment, the risks will be Liu added that Chinese business leaders like Liu, as well as the Chinese government, had to prove their commitment to do so that IRB projects in countries like Malaysia are transparent, free from corruption and benefit countries.The Chinese government, banks and companies must prevent BRI projects from becoming a heavy financial burden for the countries in which they are based.Otherwise, as Liu said, the risks will be very large, not only for Chinese companies, but also for the overall image of China.the BIS.The issue is to to know if other nations will accept BIS projects from China
Toh Han Shih is a Singaporean writer based in Hong Kong
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