WHEN Dr Mahathir Mohamad visits Beijing today to attend the One Belt One Road summit, China would be the only country the 93-year-old prime minister is visiting for the second time in less than a year in power.

Analysts said the visit is perfectly timed to shake off any lingering doubt in Beijing of Putrajaya’s friendliness towards Chinese investments and send a clear message that Pakatan Harapan is far from being anti-China.

Despite earlier reservations by the Chinese towards the PH government, the stable bilateral relations between both countries today was largely a result of the foundation built by Dr Mahathir’s foreign policies in the late 1980s to early 1990s, said Research for Social Advancement (Refsa) researcher Lam Choong Wah.

“In 1991, after the Cold War ended, bilateral relations between Malaysia and China entered a new era and both countries began a comprehensive relationship. These include high-level diplomacy, defence cooperation, official visits and economic cooperation,” Lam said.

Dr Mahathir is also not buying the Western narrative that China is an emerging threat, Lam said.

“His (Dr Mahathir) successors Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Razak were able to improve relations with China largely because of the foundations laid by Dr Mahathir.”

However, soon after PH took over following the 14th general election last year, Dr Mahathir’s announcement of the suspension of several Beijing-backed mega-projects led Chinese investors to back off.

Even before the May 9 elections last year, Dr Mahathir had been openly critical of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) and Johor’s Forest City development – both Chinese-backed mega-projects.

“But he didn’t do so because he thought China was a threat but because of the corruption and abuse of power of the Najib administration,” said Lam.

“Dr Mahathir had reiterated his support of the One Belt One Road Initiative and discussions with Huawei about a collaboration between China and Malaysia for 5G internet have also not run into any problem.”

Even though Dr Mahathir openly admires Japanese technology and moral values, the 93-year-old also recognises the fact that Japan is no longer the economic powerhouse it once was and is now overtaken by China, Lam said.

“His primary objective for the visit is to repair bilateral relations and probably also to meet Chinese officials to resolve several issues.

“There had been some minor issues between the two countries of late, but our relations are built on strong foundations. Regardless of what problems Malaysia may be facing, it can always promote itself and strengthen supervision of foreign investments.”

Universiti Malaya Asia-Europe Research Institute senior adviser Professor Dzulkifli Abdul Razak said Dr Mahathir’s visit this time would build upon the success of his first trip last August.

“I think his (Dr Mahathir) performance at the last visit was very good, even Jack Ma (Alibaba founder) had high praise for him, and Dr Mahathir seems to be focusing on trade on this trip,” he said. – April 24, 2019.