Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad says he has cancelled three Chinese-backed multi-billion infrastructure projects.

Mahathir made the announcement Tuesday in Beijing at the end of his five-day visit to the Chinese capital. He told a group of Malaysian reporters that he explained to Chinese President Xi Jingping and Premier Li Keqiang that his country’s ballooning $250 billion debt made it impossible to continue.

“It is about borrowing too much money, which we cannot afford, we cannot repay, and also because we do not need these projects for Malaysia at this moment,” Mahathir said.

Before traveling to China last week, Mahathir suspended the three projects funded with Chinese loans worth more than $20 billion, including an ambitious rail line and two energy pipelines.

During a joint news conference Monday with Premier Li, Mahathir said he hoped China will understand his country’s “internal fiscal problems.”

But he also warned against “a new version of colonialism happening because poor countries are unable to compete with rich countries in terms of just open free trade.”

The cancelled projects were initiated under Mahathir’s predecessor, Najib Razak, who has been charged with several counts of corruption in the embezzlement scandal involving the state-owned 1MDB sovereign wealth fund.

The scandal led to a stunning electoral loss in May of Najib’s National Front coalition, which had ruled Malaysia uninterrupted since gaining independence in 1957 — 22 of those years under 92-year-old Mahathir, who led the coalition that ousted Najib and the National Front.

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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad says he has cancelled three Chinese-backed multi-billion infrastructure projects.

Mahathir made the announcement Tuesday in Beijing at the end of his five-day visit to the Chinese capital. He told a group of Malaysian reporters that he explained to Chinese President Xi Jingping and Premier Li Keqiang that his country’s ballooning $250 billion debt made it impossible to continue.

“It is about borrowing too much money, which we cannot afford, we cannot repay, and also because we do not need these projects for Malaysia at this moment,” Mahathir said.

Before traveling to China last week, Mahathir suspended the three projects funded with Chinese loans worth more than $20 billion, including an ambitious rail line and two energy pipelines.

During a joint news conference Monday with Premier Li, Mahathir said he hoped China will understand his country’s “internal fiscal problems.”

But he also warned against “a new version of colonialism happening because poor countries are unable to compete with rich countries in terms of just open free trade.”

The cancelled projects were initiated under Mahathir’s predecessor, Najib Razak, who has been charged with several counts of corruption in the embezzlement scandal involving the state-owned 1MDB sovereign wealth fund.

The scandal led to a stunning electoral loss in May of Najib’s National Front coalition, which had ruled Malaysia uninterrupted since gaining independence in 1957 — 22 of those years under 92-year-old Mahathir, who led the coalition that ousted Najib and the National Front.

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A court in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday began the trial of 12 people, including two American citizens, on subversion charges as government authorities step up a crackdown on dissent.

The official Vietnam News Agency said the defendants are accused of attempting to overthrow the government by recruiting members for a U.S.-based exile group called the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam and by engaging in anti-state activities.

Vietnam’s government has labeled the little-known group a terrorist organization.

The news agency said two Vietnam-born American citizens are accused of ordering other members of the group to distribute anti-state leaflets, take over state radio stations to broadcast anti-government messages, and participate in anti-government protests. It said most of the plans were thwarted.

The trial is scheduled to last three days.

In January, the Ministry of Public Security declared the California-based group a terrorist organization, a month after 15 alleged members were convicted in a failed bombing at the country’s largest airport.

The attempted attack at the Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City in April last year caused a scare but no casualties.

Last week a court in central Vietnam sentenced an activist to 20 years in prison after finding him guilty of attempting to overthrow the government.

Despite sweeping economic reforms over the past 30 years that opened the country to foreign trade and investment and made Vietnam one of the world’s fastest growing economies, the government tolerates no challenge to its one-party rule.

Amnesty International says 97 people are serving prison sentences for violating national security laws, while Human Rights Watch counts 119.

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A court in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday began the trial of 12 people, including two American citizens, on subversion charges as government authorities step up a crackdown on dissent.

The official Vietnam News Agency said the defendants are accused of attempting to overthrow the government by recruiting members for a U.S.-based exile group called the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam and by engaging in anti-state activities.

Vietnam’s government has labeled the little-known group a terrorist organization.

The news agency said two Vietnam-born American citizens are accused of ordering other members of the group to distribute anti-state leaflets, take over state radio stations to broadcast anti-government messages, and participate in anti-government protests. It said most of the plans were thwarted.

The trial is scheduled to last three days.

In January, the Ministry of Public Security declared the California-based group a terrorist organization, a month after 15 alleged members were convicted in a failed bombing at the country’s largest airport.

The attempted attack at the Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City in April last year caused a scare but no casualties.

Last week a court in central Vietnam sentenced an activist to 20 years in prison after finding him guilty of attempting to overthrow the government.

Despite sweeping economic reforms over the past 30 years that opened the country to foreign trade and investment and made Vietnam one of the world’s fastest growing economies, the government tolerates no challenge to its one-party rule.

Amnesty International says 97 people are serving prison sentences for violating national security laws, while Human Rights Watch counts 119.

…

U.N. agencies and the Bangladesh government have begun distributing liquid petroleum gas stoves in Cox’s Bazar to help prevent further deforestation, which has been accelerating with the huge influx of Rohingya refugees during the past year.

Cox’s Bazar is home to large areas of protected forest and an important wildlife habitat. The arrival of more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing violence and persecution in Myanmar has put enormous pressure on these precious resources.

U.N. Migration Agency spokesman, Paul Dillon tells VOA, the refugees have been cutting down the trees and clearing land to build makeshift shelters. He says they and many local villagers also rely almost exclusively on firewood to cook their meals.

“Consequently, the forests in that area are being denuded at the rate of roughly four football fields every single day. We are told by the experts at this rate, by 2019 there will be no further forests in that area,” he said.

Scientists note deforestation has devastating consequences for the environment leading to soil erosion, fewer crops, increased flooding and, most significantly, the loss of habitat for millions of species.

Dillon says disappearing forests are putting great pressure on the animals in the region.

“It interrupts migration pathways and regrettably forces these, sort of, artificial confrontations between animals in the wild and communities as they move into areas that have been logged out often-times in search of arable farmland and that type of thing,” he said.

The project aims to distribute liquid petroleum gas stoves and gas cylinders to around 250,000 families over the coming months. U.N. agencies say the stoves will have additional benefits besides helping to prevent deforestation.

For example, they note smoke from firewood burned in homes and shelters without proper ventilation causes many health problems, especially among women and children who spend much of their time indoors.

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U.N. agencies and the Bangladesh government have begun distributing liquid petroleum gas stoves in Cox’s Bazar to help prevent further deforestation, which has been accelerating with the huge influx of Rohingya refugees during the past year.

Cox’s Bazar is home to large areas of protected forest and an important wildlife habitat. The arrival of more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing violence and persecution in Myanmar has put enormous pressure on these precious resources.

U.N. Migration Agency spokesman, Paul Dillon tells VOA, the refugees have been cutting down the trees and clearing land to build makeshift shelters. He says they and many local villagers also rely almost exclusively on firewood to cook their meals.

“Consequently, the forests in that area are being denuded at the rate of roughly four football fields every single day. We are told by the experts at this rate, by 2019 there will be no further forests in that area,” he said.

Scientists note deforestation has devastating consequences for the environment leading to soil erosion, fewer crops, increased flooding and, most significantly, the loss of habitat for millions of species.

Dillon says disappearing forests are putting great pressure on the animals in the region.

“It interrupts migration pathways and regrettably forces these, sort of, artificial confrontations between animals in the wild and communities as they move into areas that have been logged out often-times in search of arable farmland and that type of thing,” he said.

The project aims to distribute liquid petroleum gas stoves and gas cylinders to around 250,000 families over the coming months. U.N. agencies say the stoves will have additional benefits besides helping to prevent deforestation.

For example, they note smoke from firewood burned in homes and shelters without proper ventilation causes many health problems, especially among women and children who spend much of their time indoors.

…

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad says he hopes China will understand his country’s “internal fiscal problems” as he seeks to renegotiate billions of dollars worth of Beijing-funded projects.

Mahathir spoke Monday in Beijing during a joint news conference with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

Before traveling to China last week, Mahathir suspended three major infrastructure projects that are funded with Chinese loans worth more than $20 billion, including an ambitious rail line and two energy pipelines. The prime minister said he halted the projects due to Malaysia’s massive national debt, which has ballooned to $250 billion.

The projects were initiated under Mahathir’s predecessor, Najib Razak, who has been charged with several counts of corruption in the embezzlement scandal involving the state-owned 1MDB sovereign wealth fund.

The scandal led to a stunning electoral loss in May of Najib’s National Front coalition, which had ruled Malaysia uninterrupted since gaining independence in 1957 - 22 of those years under 92-year-old Mahathir Mohamad, who led the coalition that ousted Najib and the National Front.
…

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad says he hopes China will understand his country’s “internal fiscal problems” as he seeks to renegotiate billions of dollars worth of Beijing-funded projects.

Mahathir spoke Monday in Beijing during a joint news conference with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

Before traveling to China last week, Mahathir suspended three major infrastructure projects that are funded with Chinese loans worth more than $20 billion, including an ambitious rail line and two energy pipelines. The prime minister said he halted the projects due to Malaysia’s massive national debt, which has ballooned to $250 billion.

The projects were initiated under Mahathir’s predecessor, Najib Razak, who has been charged with several counts of corruption in the embezzlement scandal involving the state-owned 1MDB sovereign wealth fund.

The scandal led to a stunning electoral loss in May of Najib’s National Front coalition, which had ruled Malaysia uninterrupted since gaining independence in 1957 - 22 of those years under 92-year-old Mahathir Mohamad, who led the coalition that ousted Najib and the National Front.
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Reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea in September raise questions about whether Beijing will ease sanctions against Pyongyang, as relations between China and the U.S. grow increasingly tense over trade.

“Like the proverb ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend,’ China is complying with North Korea’s requests,’’ said Woo Su-keun, a North Korea analyst and political science professor at Donghua University.

The Singapore Straits Times newspaper reported on Saturday that Xi would attend the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of North Korea’s founding, in Pyongyang on September 9, at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The report has not been confirmed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The Daily NK online newspaper and the Korea Times newspaper in Seoul also recently speculated that North Korea was preparing for a visit from the Chinese head of state, based in part on reports that Chinese border patrols along the North Korean border have increased, and that Pyongyang has suspended visiting tour groups.

Repairing relations

If confirmed, it would be the Chinese leader’s first visit to the North Korean capital since he took power in 2012, and 13 years after the last visit by a Chinese President, when Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintao visited in 2005.

The young North Korean leader, who assumed power in 2011 after his father Kim Jong Il died, has had strained relations with Xi. Until this year Kim declined to visit his most important economic and strategic ally, and ignored Beijing’s counsel to refrain from provocative nuclear and ballistic tests.

In response, Xi supported increasingly restrictive rounds of Untied Nations sanctions that now block most financial transactions and 90 percent of all trade with North Korea.

But this year Kim sought to repair his damaged relationship with Xi, as he pivoted to suspend further weapons tests and agreed to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, when he met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore, and during the inter-Korean summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The North Korean leader also visited Xi in China three times this year and discussed improving cooperation between the two countries and economic reforms. Kim reportedly invited the Chinese president to Pyongyang during their first meeting in March.

Stalled progress

Beijing has recently called for easing of sanctions on North Korea but needs agreement from all members of the U.N. Security Council, including the U.S., to alter the restrictions that were unanimously agreed upon.

However there have been reports that China has permitted increased smuggling with North Korea in the wake of Pyongyang’s suspension of nuclear tests, and there are concerns that a possible Xi visit to the North will further expand informal economic ties.

“If Xi Jinping visits Pyongyang this time, although it would be difficult to take a step in lifting the official sanctions at once, he could promise to prevent the North Korean regime from facing a crisis,” said Ahn Chan-il, a North Korean defector and analyst with the World Institute of North Korean studies in Seoul.

At the same time, nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled over U.S. insistence that sanctions remain in place until North Korea fully dismantles its nuclear arsenal.

The Kim government wants early sanctions relief for incremental progress, and a joint peace declaration to replace the 1953 armistice that has been in place since the end of the Korean War.

China’s increased support for North Korea may also be a strategic move to link denuclearization progress to resolving growing tensions with Washington over the U.S. trade deficit with China and accusations of unfair trade practices by the Xi government.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to visit Pyongyang soon for another round of nuclear talks, said President Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton on Sunday.

Lee Yoon-jee contributed to this report.
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Reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea in September raise questions about whether Beijing will ease sanctions against Pyongyang, as relations between China and the U.S. grow increasingly tense over trade.

“Like the proverb ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend,’ China is complying with North Korea’s requests,’’ said Woo Su-keun, a North Korea analyst and political science professor at Donghua University.

The Singapore Straits Times newspaper reported on Saturday that Xi would attend the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of North Korea’s founding, in Pyongyang on September 9, at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The report has not been confirmed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The Daily NK online newspaper and the Korea Times newspaper in Seoul also recently speculated that North Korea was preparing for a visit from the Chinese head of state, based in part on reports that Chinese border patrols along the North Korean border have increased, and that Pyongyang has suspended visiting tour groups.

Repairing relations

If confirmed, it would be the Chinese leader’s first visit to the North Korean capital since he took power in 2012, and 13 years after the last visit by a Chinese President, when Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintao visited in 2005.

The young North Korean leader, who assumed power in 2011 after his father Kim Jong Il died, has had strained relations with Xi. Until this year Kim declined to visit his most important economic and strategic ally, and ignored Beijing’s counsel to refrain from provocative nuclear and ballistic tests.

In response, Xi supported increasingly restrictive rounds of Untied Nations sanctions that now block most financial transactions and 90 percent of all trade with North Korea.

But this year Kim sought to repair his damaged relationship with Xi, as he pivoted to suspend further weapons tests and agreed to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, when he met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore, and during the inter-Korean summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The North Korean leader also visited Xi in China three times this year and discussed improving cooperation between the two countries and economic reforms. Kim reportedly invited the Chinese president to Pyongyang during their first meeting in March.

Stalled progress

Beijing has recently called for easing of sanctions on North Korea but needs agreement from all members of the U.N. Security Council, including the U.S., to alter the restrictions that were unanimously agreed upon.

However there have been reports that China has permitted increased smuggling with North Korea in the wake of Pyongyang’s suspension of nuclear tests, and there are concerns that a possible Xi visit to the North will further expand informal economic ties.

“If Xi Jinping visits Pyongyang this time, although it would be difficult to take a step in lifting the official sanctions at once, he could promise to prevent the North Korean regime from facing a crisis,” said Ahn Chan-il, a North Korean defector and analyst with the World Institute of North Korean studies in Seoul.

At the same time, nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled over U.S. insistence that sanctions remain in place until North Korea fully dismantles its nuclear arsenal.

The Kim government wants early sanctions relief for incremental progress, and a joint peace declaration to replace the 1953 armistice that has been in place since the end of the Korean War.

China’s increased support for North Korea may also be a strategic move to link denuclearization progress to resolving growing tensions with Washington over the U.S. trade deficit with China and accusations of unfair trade practices by the Xi government.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to visit Pyongyang soon for another round of nuclear talks, said President Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton on Sunday.

Lee Yoon-jee contributed to this report.
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