Malaysia will use Huawei tech 'as much as possible,' Mahathir says

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has urged the US and China to make concessions in their disputes, warning that a failure to negotiate could lead to military conflict.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 30 May 2019, 07:05 AM
Updated : 30 May 2019, 07:05 AM

Mahathir was speaking at the annual Future of Asia conference hosted by Nikkei in Tokyo on Thursday, according to Nikkei Asian Review, a Japan-based English-language business journal. 

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Cambodian leader Hun Sen were also among the dignitaries who spoke on the first day of the two-day event, where US-China tension was an overriding theme.

Specifically, Mahathir questioned Washington's uncompromising stance against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies. Huawei has achieved a "tremendous advance over American technology," he said.

While the US has long had a strong research and development capability, "they must accept that this capability can [now] also be found in the East."

"If I am not ahead, I will ban you, I will send warships' -- that is not competition," Mahathir stressed. "That is threatening."

The US recently put Huawei on its Entity List, essentially a blacklist for foreign companies deemed national security threats.

This requires US companies to obtain government approval to export products to Huawei. The implications have spread far beyond American borders, affecting foreign Huawei suppliers that use US products or software.

While countries including Japan and Australia have already taken measures to avoid using Huawei equipment as they introduce new 5G mobile networks, Mahathir signalled that Malaysia has no intention of shunning the company.

"Huawei's research is far bigger than Malaysia's capability. We try to make use of their technology as much as possible," he said, adding that he is not concerned over allegations of espionage activity because "we are an open book."

The 93-year-old returned to the prime minister's post in last year's stunning election, which marked the first opposition victory since Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957.

Mahathir has been credited for his efforts to fight corruption and improve the government's finances, including negotiating a less costly deal for a rail project with China, the Nikkei reported.

The US-China trade war, however, has cast a shadow over his economy. Gross domestic product slowed in the first quarter of 2019, as the tensions took a toll on Malaysian exports.

Mahathir has sought to maintain economic ties with China, a key trading partner. Nevertheless, he spoke out against Beijing's military advances in the South China Sea.

"No warships should be stationed in the South China Sea," he said, warning that "a slight incident will lead to war." He cited Southeast Asian countries' ability to settle disputes through international courts as an example of how negotiations lead to peace and economic growth.

"When two giants are fighting each other, we see that it is the grass that gets trampled."

As for what East Asian nations can do to promote regional stability, he suggested the adoption of a common currency that would not be used within countries but only "for the purpose of settlement of trade."

"If you try to promote your own currency," he said, "we will have conflicts."

CAMBODIAN PRIME MINISTER HUN SEN

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday dismissed fears that his country is at risk of falling into a Chinese "debt trap" and said massive financial support from Beijing is not compromising Phnom Penh's independence.

"For Cambodia, we can maintain our sovereignty [while borrowing] the loans in accordance with the projects that we need," Hun Sen said after delivering a speech at Nikkei's Future of Asia conference.

"China respects our decisions on how we use the loans," he added. "China does not force Cambodia to do this and that."

Cambodia is a key ally for China in Southeast Asia and also a major beneficiary of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative. The country has received billions of dollars in Chinese financial aid and cheap loans to build infrastructure such as railways, dams and roads.

"We borrow the concession loans with low interest rates and a long grace period [for repayment]," Hun Sen said.

The prime minister added that his country does not rely on China alone, and called for combining Chinese initiatives with US-led efforts to promote an "open and free Indo-Pacific" region -- widely seen as a counterweight to the Belt and Road. These endeavours should be "synchronised" to create a "win-win package," he said.

Yet the initiatives are part of a deepening rivalry between the US-- the traditional dominant power in Asia -- and China, an emerging force. Their competition for regional supremacy is fuelling unease.

"We are deeply concerned about global peace, stability and security toward the evolution of a multipolar world," Hun Sen said in his address to the forum.

He also expressed fears that the escalating US-China trade war could undermine smaller countries like Cambodia, a $22 billion economy whose growth over the last two decades has been underpinned by free trade and multilateralism, said the Nikkei.