No Threats From Closer China Relations, It's Progressive Trade Ties - Analysts

By Sharifah Hunaini Syed Ismail KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (Bernama) -- The capability of Malaysia in securing so much foreign direct investment (FDI) from China when the economic climate is uncertain, should be seen as a manifestation of the progressive trade relations between the two countries, rather than being seen as a threat, according to analysts. According to them, the ties forged under the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Razak with the People's Republic of China is a linked to the Look East Policy which has been practised by the country's leadership for so long. Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM, a Malaysian public university) Politics and Internationl Affairs analystShukri Shuaib said as with the active trade relations with Japan at one time, when that country was one of the biggest economic powers in the world, Malaysia was taking the opportunities to enhance trade ties with China which is now an econmic powerhouse. "Trade ties between us and China has taken root a long time ago, its just that during the Look East Policy, Japan was more advanced than China, so we looked more to Japan. Currently, he said China was experiencing a huge economic boom which saw the country stepping up its investments in foreign countries. "When a country wants to trade with us, and its investments do not involve total control on sentitive matters, it is not a problem. "If we do not give opportunities to foreign countries to make Malaysia as their investment destination including China, we will be restricting foreign investors and it will not give a good image to our country. "I find it is unreasonable that FDI from China is considered a threat when we have had a long relationship with the country since the time of the late Abdul Razak Hussein (Malaysia's second prime minister and Najib's father). "In fact, Malaysia was the earliest country in Southeast Asia to have diplomatic relations with the communist country which has now turned into a world power," he told Bernama on Tuesday. He was commenting on the statements of opposition leaders who are seen as trying to politicise the government's efforts in bringing investments from China. The latest was Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM, a Malaysian public university) president Muhyiddin Yassin who said investments from China would affect the business opportunities of locals and it may pose threats of political interference. Commenting further, he said a progressive opposition would not link all economic matters with politics. "This is the problem with the opposition. When the government announced a project with long-term benefits such as the East Coast Rail Line project, why must they oppose when it will bring the best returns in the present economic condition. "It should be remembered, a country without the funds injected by foreign countries will be trapped. We do not want to be like Cuba which is closed...we do not want to be trapped with non-growth economic elements. Malaysia's efforts to obtain foreign investments including from China should not be therefore seen as a threat," he said. He said the opposition should be more sensitive with the situation and it would be even better if they could jointly attract investments to the country through their good relations with foreign leaders. "It is better for them to race to attract foreign investors to states such as Selangor, Penang or Kelantan. "This will create better competition, why are the opposition not competing, if Barisan Nasional (BN or National Front) could succeed in garnering so many foreign investors, why are the opposition not having positive missions, to jointly attract investments to the country...only then we can call them political professionals. Practise as political professionals, give more service to the people and not undermine the people," he said. Another political analyst said the negative statements made by the opposition on the success of the government in attracting large-scale investments from China, was linked to the growing support among the people for the government. Geostrategist Azmi Hassan said this was because what had been achieved by the government in attracting FDI had not also brought economic benefits to the country, it could also draw support from voters especially Chinese voters to BN. "It is so unfortunate, that due to political expediency, the opposition are attacking investments from China. It is well-established that every country needs FDI but when the issue is politicised, economic benefits will be made the victim," he said. According to Azmi, every country that accepts FDI, has its own legislation to protect the country's interest and as such the people should evaluate FDI from the economic aspect and not to be mixed with political ideologies. He said the waves of attacks on the investments were merely a perception play by the opposition. "Facts have been distorted to run down the government with the hope the people will not support the government and give their support to the opposition. "It will be very sad if the tactic succeeds in getting support for the opposition while the country and the people will end up as the losers," he said. He said the country would continue to be suffer with negative effects and losses as long as the opposition continued to be centred on party interests. Meanwhile, Gerakan vice-president Dr Asharuddin Ahmad slammed Muhyiddin for misleading and instigating the public by denouncing the government's efforts to improve the country's economy with long-term bilateral cooperation with China. Asharuddin said Muhyiddin's statement was politically motivated to further PPBM's political mileage. "Muhyiddin is irresponsible and it is against national interests to instigate dissatisfaction amongst the Malay and Chinese communities on government's policy and undermine bilateral ties between Malaysia and China. "In fact, enhanced bilateral ties between Malaysia and China would create greater market access for goods, services and investments, as well as enhancing industrial competitiveness, technology transfer and development, and enhancement of domestic capacity. It would benefit all industry players and the business community as a whole," he said. Asharuddin also dismissed Muhyiddin's statement as narrow, ignorant and promoting economic ostracism that would only condemn Malaysia to economic woes. He slammed Muhyiddin for discounting the facts that China's investments in Malaysia had helped the country, while the business community as a whole continued to benefit from this enhanced bilateral ties between Malaysia and China. "Muhyiddin's statement was only to serve PPBM's political agenda, there was no genuine concern shown towards the Malay and Chinese communities’ wellbeing, neither were there any loss of business opportunities as claimed by him. "Conversely, China's investments give Malaysia a significant advantage not just for survival, but growth during tough times," said Asharuddin, adding that the former deputy prime minister appeared to have forgotten how China's investments in Malaysia had lifted the country’s economic and business outlook. "China has extended a helping hand to us during this difficult time when most of our traditional sources of foreign direct investments (FDIs) were hit by economic woes or financial downturn and failed to help the nation when we needed them the most," he said. Asharuddin reminded Muhyiddin, who is also PPBM president, that China remains Malaysia’s largest trading partner, taking up 19 per cent of total exports, while investments from China were significant in the manufacturing, construction, infrastructure and property sectors. According to official data, China's investments in local manufacturing from 2009 to 2015 totalled US$3.03 billion (RM13.6 billion) and are expected to create 24,786 jobs. He also pointed out that it was obvious that the multiculturalism offered by the Malaysian society with its multi-ethnic and multilingual workforce made Malaysia an ideal partner and market in international trading and business cooperation. "It is unfortunate that Muhyiddin failed to realise the advantages, potential and positive outlook on the bilateral cooperation between Malaysia and China, but instead chose to see it in a bad light and mislead others in an attempt to achieve his political aims. "He (Muhyiddin) should stop making provocative and misleading statements but should be part of the efforts to ensure the country is on the progressive path," he added. --BERNAMA