A “NEW world order” can only be achieved by resolving conflicts at the negotiation table and not by increasing attack capabilities to cause harm to other nations, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Nations which resort to violence are not civilised and belong “to a primitive age”, the prime minister said in his keynote address at the 25th international conference on the future of Asia in Tokyo this morning.

“We need a new world order. We’ve had several new world orders, but these seem to have failed. And they have failed because we are still quite primitive. We are still relatively uncivilised,” he told leaders at the Nikkei conference.

“We think conflict can be resolved through confrontation and through war, through the destruction and the killing of people.

“Do we always go back to history and say, ‘well in the past, we were enemies and, therefore, we should continue to be enemies’. We should continue to confront each other and if necessary, go to war with each other’.

“We need to follow the example of Germany and France. We need to settle our problems not through war, but through negotiation, arbitration and through the court of law. If you do this, then the world will be much more stable.”

Dr Mahathir said nations that harp on past conflicts with one another contribute to global uncertainties, referring to the wars between nations in Europe, the Middle-East and Asia. 

He spoke of the early years of Asean, where there was “serious confrontation” between Malaysia and Indonesia. But that, he said, has been put in the past and today, Asean is a peaceful grouping of 10 nations.
 
“We are still thinking of war between China and other countries, now that China has become rich and powerful. When it was poor, we feared China. Now that it is rich, we also fear China.

“But the problem with China cannot be resolved through confrontation, through sending battleships into the area and carrying out exercises that may be result in some strong confrontation.”

Dr Mahathir also used Malaysia as an example of a government that can change without “the loss of a single life”, referring to the 14th general election when Pakatan Harapan swept into power.

“The people came out in masses and showed they wanted change… and now the opposition is the government. Malaysia has changed its government without violence.”

Later, at a question-and-answer session, Dr Mahathir said war between China and the US is “not a solution” when asked about the possibility of deteriorating relations arising from the US-China trade war.

“It will result in greater destruction if there is a very unsatisfactory prolonged negotiation. It’s better to get to the table and talk about differences and try to find ways to resolve them. 

“You will not be able to resolve everything but understanding of each other may be achieved and that may lead to certain concessions being made by both countries.”

When prompted further on how democracies should deal with an increasingly authoritarian China, Dr Mahathir spoke of Malaysia’s relations with its neighbours during the Cold War.

“When Malaysia became independent, we decided that we will only have relations with countries with the same system of government, same democratic system, therefore, we had not relations with communist countries.

“But later we found that this was not giving us good result. We decided not to care about the system of government. We just want to establish relations with these countries, forgetting about differences of ideology.

“That must be attitude of the whole world. Forget about the ideology of each country. Don’t try to force a regime change because as you can see a regime change can result in more destruction and more killing than without the change.

“Somehow or other, try to establish good relations and through good relations, they will change. For example, China has changed. China of Mao Zedong is not the China of Deng Xiaoping or the present regime.

“The present regime is much more open than in the past. They even allow their people to travel all over the world. So in a way, we have influenced China to change not by confrontation but by exhibiting that the system of open trade is much better than closed-restrictive trade.”

Dr Mahathir, who is on a three-day working visit, is on his fourth visit to Japan after his return to helm the country last year. 

His address, which opened the two-day annual conference, was followed by speeches from the prime ministers of Bangladesh and Cambodia. Other leaders in the Asia-Pacific region, including Vietnam and Mongolia, will also address attendees today, according to Nikkei.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, who is hosting the G-20 summit in June, will give a speech to close the first day, Nikkei said. Discussions today are expected to focus on the world’s two biggest economies, such as the ongoing US-China trade war and Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative. – May 30, 2019.