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The Malaysian Prime Minister belies his remarks about free trade during a visit to Beijing, but does not stick to his objections against Forest City and his description of the Jews as "the crossed nose".
Is the recent warning issued by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad that a "new version of colonialism" was emerging in Asia a veiled attack on China?
Far from it, the 93-year-old said in an interview with BBC HardTalk broadcast Tuesday.
Some Western observers of geopolitics have suggested that Mahathir's comments at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Li Keqiang during a visit to Beijing in August reflect his new government's discomfort with economic and strategic domination. growing of China in Asia.
Mahathir commented after Li, when asked about the ongoing trade war between Beijing and the United States, turned to the old statesman and asked if Malaysia supported free trade.
[Chinese investors are] always coming, they still want to invest in MalaysiaPrime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
Mahathir responded that "free trade should also be a fair trade", adding that there should not be any "new version of colonialism" happening because poor countries are not able to compete with rich countries ".
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The video clips of this commentary became viral after several media outlets used it to suggest that Mahathir was leading a resistance against China as more and more suspects thought his "Belt and Road Initiative" to open the trade with Eurasian countries was a kind of diplomacy of the debt trap.
In the London interview of Zeinab Badawi of the BBC, the Malaysian leader said it was an inaccurate representation of his remarks.
When asked if he had said that the Chinese indulged in a "debt colonialism," he replied, "I did not accuse the Chinese.
"I simply said that there were other forms of colonialism and one of them was neocolonialism, [a term] which was invented by President Sukarno, "he said, referring to the latest leader of Indonesia.
Sukarno was one of the main supporters of the Non-Aligned Movement created in 1961 as an alternative to countries that did not want to fall under the diplomatic umbrella of the United States or the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. .
Mahathir also insisted that Chinese investors "always came, they still want to invest in Malaysia".
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"They've seen me, many of them have seen me recently and they do not seem to be angry at me because of what I've said about colonialism." said the prime minister.
When asked again whether he considered the belt and road plan as a new form of colonialism, Mahathir replied "not at all", but opposed the use of Chinese money for building cities abroad.
These critics seemed to be referring to his repeated condemnation of the sprawling 100-billion-dollar Forest City project built in Malaysia by Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings.
The interview also allowed Mahathir to look into the dispute in the South China Sea – just as the question arose again after a Chinese warship forced an American destroyer to change cape near the Spratly Islands.
He reiterated his position that China – which claims a broad band of the South China Sea under its so-called "nine-dash line" – "has the right to go wherever it wants" but should not not "control or prevent ships" from going through the waterway.
He added that the conflict could intensify if "people start irritating and provoking China". When asked if he was referring to the administration of US President Donald Trump, Mahathir replied, "You can guess, I do not have to mention the word, I'm not allowed."
The interview with the BBC was a hectic week for Mahathir, who spoke to the UN General Assembly last week.
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It was his first appearance at the UN in 15 years – after his victory in the May 9 legislative elections against former Prime Minister Najib Razak, saw him resume a position he held from 1981 to 2003.
In the UN speech, Mahathir criticized Israel for its occupation of Palestinian land and showed little remorse when it was interviewed in an interview with the BBC on its reputation for 39; antisemitic.
"If you want to be honest, the problem in the Middle East began with the creation of Israel. That's the truth. But I can not say that, "he said.
When asked why he described the Jews as "crossed nose" in his 1970 book The Malay dilemmaMahathir said, "They have a crooked nose. Many people have called the nose-nosed Malays. We did not object, we did not fight for it. "
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