China won't use force over Spratlys: Mahathir
China won't use force over Spratlys: Mahathir
WELLINGTON (Reuter): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
played down fears yesterday that China could exert military
pressure in other regional disputes after its sabre-rattling
against Taiwan.
Mahathir was careful to avoid criticizing China, whose missile
tests and military exercises off Taiwan raised international
tensions in the run-up to presidential elections on the island
last Saturday.
"That is entirely between China and Taiwan. I don't think we
should take that as an indicator that China is an aggressive
nation and will solve all problems through military means,"
Mahathir said during a visit to New Zealand.
He added that he did not expect China to use military muscle
in resolving a regional dispute over the disputed Spratly
islands, one of which is claimed by Malaysia.
"I don't think China's attitude towards Taiwan would be
similar to its attitude towards the Spratlys or other multiple
claims that you find in East Asia," Mahathir said.
Beijing regarded relations with Taiwan as a domestic matter,
and Taiwan also saw itself as part of China, he said.
"If Taiwanese leaders choose to provoke the Chinese
government, then of course you can get a lot of tension and a lot
of acts being carried out in order to impress on the Taiwanese
the futility of their desire to become an independent country,"
Mahathir told a news conference.
He added that China had stated its willingness to negotiate
multilaterally over the Spratlys, a potentially oil-rich cluster
of reefs in the South China Sea claimed wholly or in part by
China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia.
Mahathir, known for his forthright style, also said Asian
countries would take note of New Zealand's current debate on
immigration, which has exposed hostility in some quarters towards
settlement by wealthy Asians.
"It would seem odd to reject Asian immigration and then say
you want to be close to Asia. It would seem like discrimination,"
he said.
Asked about the fate of two New Zealanders jailed in Malaysia
on drugs charges, Mahathir bluntly defended his country's tough
laws.
"We treat foreigners and locals alike. If we hang our people,
then we will hang others. If there are mitigating circumstances
which apply to our people, we'll apply them to foreigners as
well," he said.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jim Bolger said death sentences on
the jailed couple, Lorraine and Aaron Cohen, had been commuted to
long jail terms and his government had asked for a review of the
sentences.
He said his talks with Mahathir focused mainly on trade and
investment, and both stated their determination to go beyond a
proposed Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and pursue complete nuclear
disarmament.
The two countries signed bilateral accords on visa-free
working holidays, educational exchanges, defense cooperation and
television coverage of the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia.