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.