[ad_1]
By Philip Wen and Rozanna Latiff
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian and Chinese officials are in talks for Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to visit Beijing soon, two sources with knowledge of the talks told Reuters, after Kuala Lumpur suspended China
Mahathir, Najib Razak, Chairman of Najib Razak, Chairman of Najib Razak, Chairman of the Board of Directors
A Malaysian foreign ministry source said both sides had yet to finalize dates, but Mahathir was " looking forward to visiting China "
A spokesman for Mahathir did not comment. 59008] China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.
Najib courted trillions of dollars of Chinese investment and was one of Southeast Asia's most enthusiastic supporters of President Xi Jinping's signature Belt and Road Initiative.
Arrested This week on charges of corruption, Najib pleaded not guilty and was released on Wednesday.
Reuters on Thursday reported scandal-ridden state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Mahathir has been highly critical of the benefits of certain Chinese projects in Malaysia. (19659013) But in a move this week, the finance ministry, under the Mahathir's orders, called a halt to work on three projects: the $ 20-billion East Coast Railway Link (ECRL) and two pipeline projects worth $ 2.3 billion.
The 688-km (428-mile) ECRL will connect the South China Sea on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia with the strategic shipping routes of the Straits of Malacca to the west.
The other two projects are a petroleum pipeline stretching 600 km (373 miles) along the west coast of peninsular Malaysia and a 662-km (411-mile) gas pipeline in Sabah, the Malaysian state on the island of
"The decisions are only directed at the relative contractors," "the finance Ministry said in a statem
"Do not WANT TO BE INDEBTED TO CHINA"
Calling the halt was a part of a negotiation strategy of high-level government talks, said two other sources
"It's sending a message to the Chinese," said one of the sources, a senior finance ministry official. "They do not want a failure to meet their name."
Malaysia's Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has said that Najib's government understates the true cost of the ECRL, which was 50 percent higher, at $ 20 billion, than the earlier estimate.
Organized before his election victory, Mahathir's first overseas visit as prime minister, to Japan last month, was not established as a signal he would look beyond China for key foreign investment.
"We will be friendly with China, goal We do not want to be indebted to China, "he said in Tokyo.
(Reporting by Philip Wen and Rozanna Latiff; Additional Reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Joseph Sipalan in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by A. Ananthalakshmi and Clarence Fernandez )
Source link
