PUTRAJAYA has “some suspicion” regarding the intention behind Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, but its suspension of the East Coast Rail Link project is not a stand against Chinese businesses, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The prime minister, in an interview with the Beijing-based Caixin Media Company Ltd, reiterated that Malaysia could not proceed with the multibillion-dollar ECRL due to the nation’s RM1 trillion debt.

ECRL, a key component in the Belt and Road Initiative, comprises a 688km rail line linking Selangor on the west coast to the east coast states of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan.

“At this moment, we need to have the understanding of Chinese leaders, so that they do not misunderstand (the suspension) as a stand against China.

“It’s not against China. We want to establish good relations with China, friendly relations, but we have this financial problem, which China can help us resolve (with their understanding).”

He told interviewers Yu Peihua and Xu Heqian on the programme Who’s Time that the loans Malaysia was saddled with were “very big”.

“Malaysia has been borrowing a lot of money from China, and now, it is faced with the problem of repaying the loans.

“This is why we have to maybe reduce or postpone some of the projects in Malaysia, because we cannot pay… we don’t have the money.

“So, (the postponement) has nothing to do with Chinese businesses. It is just our need to reduce the amount of money we borrow from other countries.”

He said given Malaysia’s financial situation, ECRL – as well as other costly projects – must be studied again “to see if it is beneficial to both countries”.

He said he was aware that should such projects fail to take off, “the contractors will suffer”.

Dr Mahathir said he was seeking a win-win situation, “where Malaysia gains from the postponement… and China also does not lose”.

The ECRL contract, which was awarded to China Communications Construction, had been touted as the centrepiece of China’s infrastructure push in Malaysia, providing more than 2,000 jobs.

The Chinese company said following the suspension, more than 1,800 of 2,250 workers had been laid off.

Dr Mahathir said his recent visit to Beijing was “to revive the old relations between China and Malaysia”, which were formulated during his first term as prime minister.

He said it was good for Malaysia to be friendly with a neighbour that was not only large and powerful, but offered a huge market.

“Malaysia is a trading nation, we need markets.”

He denied that the corruption probe into former prime minister Najib Razak was being used as an excuse to renegotiate the ECRL project, as well as two gas pipeline projects awarded to another Chinese company.

He said if the government found any evidence of corruption, “of course we must take action against the corrupt”.

“They were involved in the stealing of money, corrupting the people.” – September 2, 2018.