‘Investments welcomed, but not mass migration’

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia welcomes investments, but it cannot have foreigners settling in the country “by the millions”, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Moha-mad said.

He said Malaysia also did not object to China’s One Belt, One Road initiative.

“One Belt, One Road is okay, but some people sold land to build homes for their people to come and live there.

“That is not foreign direct investment,” he said in BBC’s Hardtalk programme hosted by Zeinab Badawi.

She had asked: “But do you see them as bringing about a new form of colonialism with their One Belt, One Road infrastructure projects?”

Dr Mahathir said the Chinese were welcome to invest in Malaysia, but noted that “real” foreign direct investment should involve bringing technology and factory plants to Malaysia in ways that locals could benefit.

He was asked if Beijing’s global mega infrastructure initiative was a form of “new colonialism” or “debt colonialism”, and whether Malaysia’s cancellation and suspension of projects had caused concern among investors.

“(The Chinese) are welcome to invest (here).

“(President) Xi Jinping is not angry with me for saying that.”

When asked if he did not want Chinese people settling in Malaysia, Dr Mahathir replied: “No country wants citizens of another country to come and settle en masse.”

He said ethnicity was not the issue but that it was not right for foreigners coming to settle in Malaysia “by the millions”.

One Belt, One Road is okay, but some people sold land to build homes for their people to come and live there. That’s not foreign direct investment... (The Chinese) are welcome to invest. President Xi Jinping is not angry with me for saying that.