Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad gave an interview to Global Times this week following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visits to Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia.
One of the questions posed to him was about four principles that President Xi Jinping identified for relations with neighboring countries—amity, sincerity, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness.
Dr. Mahathir emphasized that Malaysia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries generally want to have good relations with China and agreed that the four principles would allow neighboring countries to avoid war and conflict. Malaysia’s relations with China are more than 2,000 years old, he said, and China never combatted Malaysia or tried to dominate it, even though Malaysia was relatively small and weak. “China has been with us almost 2,000 years, and the relationship has always been very good,” said the former prime minister. “We understand the Chinese way, and China understands the Malaysian way. Therefore, any problems that may arise can be resolved through contacts and discussion.”
