Malaysia can't provoke Beijing on South China Sea, Uighur issue
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
Malaysia can't provoke Beijing on South China Sea, Uighur issue

World+Biz

Reuters
29 September, 2019, 10:10 am
Last modified: 29 September, 2019, 10:37 am

Related News

  • Oil steady as economic worries offset possible China demand rise
  • China says it wants to expand BRICS bloc of emerging economies
  • China to buy Russian oil for strategic reserves
  • US charges a American, four Chinese officials with spying
  • China relaxes some Covid test rules for US, other travellers

Malaysia can't provoke Beijing on South China Sea, Uighur issue

This month China and Malaysia agreed to set up a joint dialogue mechanism for the South China Sea, as ties between the countries improve

Reuters
29 September, 2019, 10:10 am
Last modified: 29 September, 2019, 10:37 am
File Photo: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
File Photo: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad

Malaysia does not want to take a confrontational stance towards China over the disputed South China Sea and Beijing's alleged mistreatment of its minority Uighur Muslims, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said in an interview published on Saturday.

Malaysia is too small to face up to the Asian powerhouse, even though Chinese ships surveying its waters for oil and gas in South China Sea do so without permission, he told an online news service during a visit to New York this week.

"We watch what they are doing, we report what they are doing, but we do not chase them away or try to be aggressive," Mahathir told BenarNews.

"The Malay states have existed near China for the past 2,000 years. We have survived because we know how to conduct ourselves. We don't go around trying to be aggressive when we don't have the capacity, so we use other means."

He said that in the past Malaysia used to send to China "gold and silver flowers every year as a symbol of our being practically, well, subservient to them".

This month, China and Malaysia agreed to set up a joint dialogue mechanism for the South China Sea, as ties between the countries improve. China is Malaysia's biggest trading partner.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been overseeing a sweeping plan to refurbish its army as the country ramps up its presence in the South China Sea and around self-ruled Taiwan, rattling nerves around the region and in Washington.

Mahathir also said China's might was the reason Muslim-majority Malaysia did not speak out much against Beijing's alleged repression of Uighur Muslims.

"You don't just try and do something which would fail anyway, so it is better to find some other less violent ways not to antagonise China too much, because China is beneficial for us," he said.

"Of course it's is a big trading partner of ours and you do not want to do something that will fail, and in the process, also, we will suffer."

The United Nations says at least 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims have been detained in what China describes as "vocational training centers" to stamp out extremism and give people new skills.

The 94-year-old leader also said Malaysia's police was trying to ascertain if fugitive financier Low Taek Jho was in China. Investigators have named Low, better known as Jho Low, as a key figure in the scandal at 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), which US and Malaysian prosecutors say was used to siphon out hundreds of millions of dollars.

Top News / Politics

Malaysia / china / Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Students suffer over costlier food at public university canteens
    Students suffer over costlier food at public university canteens
  • Infographic: TBS
    Businesses reel under soaring costs
  • Photo: Mumit M/TBS
    What delays infrastructure projects in Bangladesh?

MOST VIEWED

  • Russian service members march during a parade on Victory Day, which marks the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia May 9, 2022. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo
    Russian parliament to consider allowing over-40s to sign up for military
  • Picture: Collected
    Four people stabbed in south-east Norway attack
  • View of a damaged building after it was struck, by what was reported to be an air strike, during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Bakhmut, Donetsk Region, Ukraine, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video released May 19, 2022 Donetsk Region Police/Handout via REUTERS
    Ukraine says Russian attacks on Donbas intensifying
  • A Ukrainian flag, a larger flag planted amid 500 smaller Ukrainian flags in a park, flies in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, US, March 14, 2022. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
    Ukraine says it gets $530 mln in US, UK grants from World Bank fund
  • A model of the natural gas pipeline is seen in front of displayed German and Russian flag colours in this illustration taken April 26, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
    Fearing Russian cutoff, German industry braces for gas rations race
  • A man walks past a Nationwide Building Society in London, Britain, May 22, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
    Britain's Nationwide annual profit nearly doubles

Related News

  • Oil steady as economic worries offset possible China demand rise
  • China says it wants to expand BRICS bloc of emerging economies
  • China to buy Russian oil for strategic reserves
  • US charges a American, four Chinese officials with spying
  • China relaxes some Covid test rules for US, other travellers

Features

Professor Mustafizur Rahman. Illustration: TBS

Project delays and escalating costs are driven by frequent revisions and lack of good governance

3h | Panorama
Photo: Mumit M/TBS

What delays infrastructure projects in Bangladesh?

3h | Panorama
Foods that you should never put in the refrigerator

Foods that you should never put in the refrigerator

4h | Food
Photo caption: In the case of Sweden and Finland, the tipping point was clearly an altered view of Russian intentions and their willingness “to use violence.” Photo: Reuters

What are Sweden and Finland thinking?

1h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Ways to retain body fragrance

Ways to retain body fragrance

1h | Videos
Gazipur restaurant that serves 150 food items

Gazipur restaurant that serves 150 food items

4h | Videos
How to prepare for a job

How to prepare for a job

5h | Videos
Putin's strategies to face Nato

Putin's strategies to face Nato

17h | Videos

Most Read

1
Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge
Bangladesh

Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge

2
Representative Photo: Pixabay.
Bangladesh

Microplastics found in 5 local sugar brands

3
Mushfiq Mobarak. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Panorama

Meet the Yale professor who anchors his research in Bangladesh and scales up interventions globally

4
A packet of US five-dollar bills is inspected at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington March 26, 2015. REUTERS/Gary Cameron
Banking

Dollar hits Tk100 mark in open market

5
The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter
Industry

The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter

6
PK Halder: How a scamster rose from humble beginnings to a Tk11,000cr empire
Crime

PK Halder: How a scamster rose from humble beginnings to a Tk11,000cr empire

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab