MALAYSIA has no objections to China’s One Belt, One Road initiative but is against projects that allow foreigners to reside here en masse, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad told BBC’s Hardtalk programme.

“One Belt, One Road is okay, but some people sold land to build homes for their people to come and live there. That’s not foreign direct investment,” he told Hardtalk host Zeinab Badawi on the programme.

He said the Chinese were welcome to invest in Malaysia but noted that “real” foreign direct investment should involve bringing technology and factory plants to Malaysia in ways locals could benefit.

He was asked if he saw Beijing’s global mega infrastructure initiative as a form of “new colonialism” or “debt colonialism”.

He was also asked if Malaysia’s move to cancel or suspend billions of dollars worth of projects by China had caused concern among investors.

“(The Chinese) are welcome to invest (here). (President) Xi Jinping is not angry with me for saying that,” he said.

Asked by Zeinab if this meant that the prime minister didn’t want Chinese people settling in Malaysia, Dr Mahathir answered: “No other country wants citizens of another country to come and settle en masse.”

He added that it was not a question of ethnicity but that foreigners coming to settle in Malaysia “by the millions” was not right.

Dr Mahathir was also asked about China’s presence in the South China Sea, to which he said the it was not a good idea to have its warships passing through the Straits of Malacca.

“China has the right to go anywhere it wants to go, but please don’t do checks on (other) ships. It’s better not to have warships there. If people start stationing warships there, it may result in conflict and tension, and could start a war.” – October 2, 2018.