Mahathir slams Western nations<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad,
\nslamming the U.S. magazine Fortune for generalizing Asian leaders
\nas corrupt, has accused U.S. congressmen and western nations in
\ngeneral of being \"dirtier.\"<\/p>\n
\"They (the West) have the perception that they are a superior
\nrace that is not involved in corruption. They only see others as
\ndirty, but if they look at themselves in the mirror, they will
\nsee that they are dirtier,\" Mahathir said.<\/p>\n
U.S. congressmen received \"a lot\" from the private sector and
\nthe U.S. system of lobby groups also amounted to corruption, the
\nBusiness Times here quoted him saying over the weekend.<\/p>\n
\"They are snooty, always looking down their nose thinking
\nother people are inferior. This is what annoys me,\" Mahathir, a
\nfrequent critic of western morals and values, said in the report
\npublished Saturday.<\/p>\n
Mahathir aides said yesterday that the premier had been
\nprovoked by the recent Fortune magazine report headed \"Asia-
\nCorrupt-O-Meter\" which placed Malaysia mid-way on a scale in
\nwhich China was called the most corrupt and Singapore the least
\ncorrupt nation.<\/p>\n
Rating corruption in 11 Asian nations on a 1-10 scale, Fortune
\nhad placed China and Indonesia at the top with 7.31 points,
\nfollowed by India at seven, the Philippines at 6.59, Thailand
\nwith 5.88 and Malaysia with 4.64.<\/p>\n
The article had alleged that corruption in such Asian nations
\nwas giving American companies a \"nightmarish legal dilemma.\"<\/p>\n
Mahathir, who recently vowed to fight corruption in his ruling
\nUnited Malays National Organization, challenged Fortune's rating
\nof corruption in North America, Australia and Europe as only 2.12
\non the scale.<\/p>\n
\"The French, British and Italians are also corrupt. But they
\nonly consider themselves as superior and clean,\" Mahathir
\nalleged.<\/p>\n
Mahathir last week ordered the closure of some 16,000
\ncompanies allegedly set up by UMNO members to obtain shares meant
\nonly for indigenous Malays and to muscle in on government tenders
\nand business deals.<\/p>\n
UMNO is the lynchpin of Malaysia's 14-member ruling National
\nFront coalition.<\/p>",
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