TOKYO: USA declaring trade wars on developing nations such as China is a stupid act as it hinders the economic progress of developing countries and does not encourage competitiveness that benefit humankind, says Malaysia Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on his visit to Japan.
In his statement, Dr Mahathir was commenting on the ongoing US-China trade war that is likely to affect Malaysia and other Asian countries as well.
“We would not have the US-China trade war if more reasonable minds take over.
“But at the moment we have to accept that there is a trade war and it affects us,” he said.
Dr Mahathir added, the USA is preventing China from becoming a big market for the whole world as it feels threatened.
“We want China to be rich enough for it to be a great market for us and the rest of the world.
“Yes, China is exporting a lot but you were threatened by China when it’s poor, you’re also threatened by China when it is rich. What should they do? They cannot be in-between.
“If you remember, European (countries) were very powerful and they conquered the rest of the world. China has yet to conquer us and we have been trading with them for 2,000 years,” he said.
“Whether America likes it or not, China is going to be a powerful country. It has a population that is bigger than the whole of Europe and North America.
“And China can be a world by itself, it can trade within the country. That’s how it grew in the first place,” the Prime Minister was quoted by Bernama telling reporters at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan here Thursday (May 30).
Malaysia Prime Minister added, the USA should not be threatened by China advancement, and he hopes there will be less confrontational attitude between the United States and China.
