Reference News Network reported on May 29 (Text/Liu Tong Rui Sike)The old horse finally made a move, and even burned two fires.
According to Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao on the 28th, newly elected Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir confirmed on the same day that the Malaysian government had decided to terminate the high-speed rail plan from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.
A few days ago, Mahathir just announced that he would reassess the East Coast Railway Project.
Mahathir
Coincidentally, these two projects led by the former Malaysian government have one thing in common — — Are related to enterprises in China:
The East Coast Railway Project was undertaken by China Jiaojian, with loans mainly provided by The Export-Import Bank of China. One of the strong bidders for Xinlong High-speed Railway is also from China.
As a result, this "coincidence" has become a new "evidence" for some foreign media to speculate on "Malaysia’s China policy turn" in recent days.
But is this really the case?
I believe that after reading this tweet, you will have your own answer.
The Malaysian political situation has changed, and the China project has been "lying down"
"This is the final decision." At the press conference held on the 28th to announce the decision to terminate the Xinlong high-speed rail project, Mahathir said categorically.
The reason he gave was that the project "can’t bring us a penny of income".
Mahathir at the press conference
Lianhe Zaobao said that Singapore and Malaysia signed a bilateral agreement on Xinlong high-speed rail in Kuala Lumpur on December 13, 2016. If Malaysia defaults, it must pay a huge sum of money.
As the name implies, the Xinlong high-speed railway will connect Singapore with Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with a total length of 350 kilometers. Before being stopped, the project bidding has not yet ended. If it is completed, it will only take 1 hour and 30 minutes for passengers to travel between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore by high-speed train.
Although the specific cost amount of Xinlong High-speed Railway has never been disclosed, Bloomberg pointed out in a report on the 28th that Mahathir claimed to stop the project to avoid "bankruptcy" of the country because of too much investment and too little income.
It is reported that Mahathir said that he would renegotiate the East Coast Railway Project with China for the same reason.
Bloomberg report screenshot
As the largest project currently under construction in Malaysia, the East Coast Railway Project has a total length of 688 kilometers and a cost of 13.8 billion US dollars. It crosses the Malay Peninsula and connects Kuala Lumpur with Kelantan in the north. The groundbreaking ceremony of the project was held in August last year, and the construction period is expected to be from 2017 to 2024.
Reuters quoted Mahathir as saying that Malaysia is expected to reduce nearly one-fifth of its $250 billion national debt and debt by canceling large-scale projects.
At the same time, foreign media pointed out that Mahathir’s move was directed at former Prime Minister Najib — — After being sworn in, Mahathir immediately ordered a re-investigation of Najib’s "one horse case". Previously, Najib was accused of misappropriating funds from Yima Company.
According to the analysis of Nikkei Chinese Network on 16th, Mahathir’s background of accelerating the investigation of Najib’s responsibility is that he hopes to maintain people’s expectations of the new regime by quickly responding to the corruption problem with strong national dissatisfaction, so as to push the regime operation onto the track.
However, whether it is to reduce the national debt or to start the first shot of anti-corruption, in the eyes of individual foreign media, these reasons do not seem important.
As reported by CNBC on May 10th, USA, it was very definitely announced that the Malaysian election results were shocking and the China project would be affected.
The report also quoted a Japanese economist as saying that it was "not surprising" that the China project was affected.
Concept map of Xinlong high-speed railway station
Yesterday, Mahathir’s latest statement made foreign media once again speculate on the fate of the China project.
Even the Xinlong High-speed Railway, whose bidding has not yet ended, has been directly classified as "China Project".
"Mahathir stopped the high-speed rail plan and the impact involved China." The Nikkei Chinese website reported on this topic on the 29th. You know, Japan was one of the most promising countries to win the bid for the Xinlong high-speed railway.
Compared with the anxiety of Japan and Singapore, Mahathir’s position on China is very clear — —
While foreign media have expressed concern about the situation of China project in Malaysia and even the relationship between China and Malaysia, in fact, the situation of the other two countries may be more worthy of "concern".
They are the other two protagonists in the Xinlong high-speed rail project — — Singapore and Japan.
The website of Japan Times reported on the 29th that Mahathir’s decision shocked the Singapore government, and Singapore was observing the impact of Mahathir’s return to politics on the country.
《Screenshot of the website report of Japan Times
In order to win the Xinlong high-speed rail project, Japan has been working hard for several years. Not only did 10 companies form an enterprise alliance to bid, but the Japanese government-enterprise joint venture fund "Overseas Transportation and Urban Development Support Agency" also provided support. Once the project is terminated, the impact on Japan can be imagined.
Compared with the "uncertainty" faced by Singapore and Japan after Mahathir took office, Mahathir’s recent statements to China seem to be much clearer.
After being sworn in on May 10th, Mahathir immediately sent the clearest signal about China policy, saying that Kuala Lumpur would continue to consolidate friendly relations with Beijing and support the Belt and Road Initiative.
On 24th, Mahathir met with China’s Ambassador to Malaysia during the day, and said that welcomes Malaysian enterprises to invest in Malaysia, so as to push forward the cooperation between the two countries, and expressed the expectation of visiting China again.
On the morning of May 24th, Mahathir met with the daytime ambassador.
According to the analysis of this meeting, the website of Nihon Keizai Shimbun believes that Mahathir has adjusted his attitude towards specific projects in China based on various considerations, but this does not mean that Malaysia is prepared to cool its economic relations with China. Because "the Prime Minister has admitted that Beijing is too important".
At today’s (29th) afternoon press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spokesperson Hua Chunying also answered Mahathir’s decision on the China project: We have noticed the statement made by the new Malaysian government on the Xinlong high-speed railway, and believe that Malaysia and Singapore can resolve it through consultation.
"As for the projects you mentioned that may have an impact on China’s interests, China has always carried out economic, trade and investment cooperation with other countries, including Malaysia, on the principle of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. As friendly neighbors, China and Malaysia have always maintained close economic, trade and investment cooperation relations, which have brought tangible benefits to the two peoples. We are willing to continue to maintain close cooperation with Malaysia. " Hua Chunying said.
Hua Chunying
Malaysia "changed face"? Another country has given the answer — —
In fact, whether the China project in Malaysia and even China-Malaysia relations have "changed" this time may have been explained by the previous experience of a South Asian country.
It is Sri Lanka.
"In 2015, the Sri Lankan government changed. After the new government took office, a series of large projects were stopped or retried. Sri Lankan experience shows that this political change in Malaysia may affect China’s major projects in Malaysia. " In the report on the 24th, the American Fair Observer made a prediction with Sri Lanka as an example.
"Fair Observer" report screenshot
In fact, Mahathir himself has publicly mentioned Sri Lanka many times before and issued an appeal: "Don’t let Malaysia become the next Sri Lanka"!
But for those who have been resident in Sri Lanka,Sharp referenceAs far as journalists are concerned, Mahathir’s move may be a repetition of some unwise practices in the early days when the new Sri Lankan government took office in 2015.
XiaoruiI still clearly remember that after the new Sri Lankan government came to power in January 2015, a number of China projects were quickly stopped and re-examined on the grounds of safeguarding national interests, among which the port city project with China’s investment of US$ 1.4 billion in Sri Lanka attracted the most attention.
However, the following facts soon taught those who "enjoyed" the frustration of Sino-Sri Lankan relations a lesson: after many large projects were stopped, Sri Lanka’s economy was in trouble at an eye-catching speed, the unemployment rate increased, and the people’s lives were hard. The new government had to adjust its thinking again and seize the opportunity of China’s "Belt and Road Initiative". One year later, in March 2016, the port city re-signed the agreement and resumed construction.
On April 16, 2018, a sand dredger dredged and dredged the port city project in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of China Harbor Colombo Port City Co., Ltd.)
At present,XiaoruiIt is learned that the port city project is in full swing, and the land reclamation has been completed for more than 2.2 million square meters. In addition, China and Sri Lanka have started to attract investment for the port city, and the development prospect of the project is very optimistic.
In addition, the performance of Hanport mentioned by Mahathir many times has improved only half a year after it was handed over to the Chinese side for operation. Even the Indian media, which has always been very critical of China’s projects in Sri Lanka, have to change their mouths and admit: "The port of Hambantota built in China is not useless."
Hambantota port
According to the Indian Citizen Network reported on May 26th, after the handover, Hangang attracted more and more cargo ships. The achievements of port management in the past year have been achieved in four months. As of April, 132 cargo ships have arrived at the port this year, compared with 202 last year.
"China is sincerely willing to help improve Sri Lanka’s economy. With their help, I have no doubt that Sri Lanka will become better in the near future." Malik Samarawickrama, Minister of International Trade of Sri Lanka, said this.
"There is no reason to worry about China-Malaysia relations because they need each other." Hong Kong’s "South China Morning Post" pointed out this in a report on the 28th.
According to the report, even though Mahathir Mohamud has sent contradictory signals about the future of the China project, the consensus on the value of the relationship between China and Malaysia has come to an end: the relationship between China and Malaysia does not need to be changed, and the development of Malaysia needs China’s investment and infrastructure construction, which is also an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Hong Kong "South China Morning Post" report screenshot
And this afternoon, the person in charge of the Madong Railway Project also told me.XiaoruiThe Malaysian government has not stopped the East Coast Railway. "Other situations are being observed."