A China studies expert, Ngeow Chow Bing of Universiti Malaya, said the government had so far been careful enough in its handling of exposes involving Chinese state-owned enterprises.
He added that government leaders should reaffirm that any “problematic” deals that were being scrutinised were likely the result of the activities by the previous government.
Leaders of the new government should give the Chinese government a “heads-up” whenever it uncovered deals which appeared unfair, he said.
“It never hurts to reassure the people here, and in China, that the new government is merely doing its job, and not trying to politicise relations with other countries,” he told FMT. “As long as we don’t blow things out of proportion and stick to the facts as we have, it will be fine.”
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had raised questions about consultancy and maintenance contracts awarded by a government-owned company, Suria Strategic Energy Resources Sdn Bhd, to the China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau, for a RM9.4 billion gas and petroleum pipeline in the Peninsula and Sabah.
His statement prompted a response from former prime minister Najib Razak, who said great care was needed in making “serious politically motivated” public allegations involving foreign state-owned companies. He said these allegations could have a negative effect on foreign relations and international trade.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad instructed Lim and officials of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to visit China for discussions with those involved in the pipeline projects
Ngeow said that a deal that did not appear to be in Malaysia’s favour would not necessarily mean that China or its state-owned agencies were complicit in wrongdoing.
Such deals might have been agreed to based on an evaluation of the agreement and whether it was beneficial to the country.
“If we give China a heads-up and room to renegotiate the deals, we have a better chance of fixing any imbalances because they, too, wouldn’t want to be seen as being complicit in any form of corruption,” he said.
“We don’t need to get their approval to release the details of these deals, but I think Beijing would appreciate it.”
Ngeow added that Malaysia could do more to interact with China, to prevent speculation of anti-Chinese sentiments.
“From publicly available information, it seems that the only meeting between China and Malaysia after the election was when the Chinese ambassador met Dr Mahathir.
“It’s still early days, but sending a delegation to China to discuss issues and deals inked by the previous administration will help maintain strong relations with China.”
RM8.3 bil paid to firm with Jho Low link, but only 13% job done