[By Guancha Observer Network, Liu Chenghui]

"China is a huge market. If China prospers and becomes the world's first, it will bring us better opportunities to enter the Chinese market," former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said in an interview.

According to Nikkei Asia's report on June 3, Mahathir, who will turn 100 this year, attended the "Future of Asia" annual forum hosted by Nikkei News on May 30. During the talk breaks, he told the media that the rise of China presents opportunities for Southeast Asian countries, and each country should seek to benefit from China's development. He believed that ASEAN countries should deepen trade relations with China to offset the impact of US tariff hikes and the shift toward protectionism.

Mahathir said, "Malaysia should conduct larger-scale trade with China and India to compensate for losses in trade with the US."

"Southeast Asian countries generally have good relations with China. For Southeast Asian countries, China is a huge market, so if China prospers and becomes the world's first, it will bring us better opportunities to enter the Chinese market," Mahathir said. "We need to pay attention to China's development and see how to compensate for losses caused by the US."

He added that the current trade volume between ASEAN and China is much greater than that with the US, and there is still room for further development in trade with India.

On May 30, Mahathir attended the "Future of Asia" annual forum hosted by Nikkei News in Tokyo. Visual China

The report mentioned that ASEAN has recently deepened its relations with China and Gulf states, marking a milestone with the ASEAN-China-GCC summit held last month in Malaysia. ASEAN statistics show that ties between Southeast Asia and Gulf states are strengthening. The trade volume between ASEAN and China and GCC was over $900 billion last year, nearly double the $45.3 billion trade volume with the US.

Data from the General Administration of Customs showed that in 2024, ASEAN continued to maintain its position as China's largest trading partner. In dollar terms, the total value of trade between China and ASEAN reached $982.34 billion, growing by 7.8%. Among these, exports amounted to $586.52 billion, growing by 12.0%; imports stood at $395.81 billion, growing by 2.0%.

Including Malaysia, some ASEAN countries are also seeking to deepen ties with BRICS nations.

Mahathir said, "We need to rely on other countries, so we must strengthen intra-ASEAN trade as well as trade between ASEAN and BRICS nations."

Mahathir also mentioned that looking back at his 80-year political career, one of the most unforgettable moments was his visit to Japan in 1961. He said that he witnessed Japan's post-war recovery at that time, which inspired him to promote the "Look East" policy after becoming prime minister, learning from advanced Asian economies like Japan and South Korea. This allowed Malaysia's economic growth rate to surpass that of most ASEAN countries other than Singapore.

It is worth noting that during his speech at the "Future of Asia" annual forum, Mahathir repeatedly mentioned China.

He frankly stated that although US President Trump "was dissatisfied with China's potential challenge to the US," "China has existed much longer than the US."

"This is one of the few ancient civilizations that continue to this day," Mahathir emphasized. "I believe China will not be easily defeated by the US. The US cannot regain its former glory to become the world's first again; China looks set to become the world's leading power (the No. 1 country in the world)."

Mahathir said that Trump's imposition of so-called "reciprocal tariffs" turned "the entire world into enemies," isolating the US.

He said that given the US also depends on imported products like chips, tariffs will harm the US "far more than other countries," inevitably raising living costs domestically.

Mahathir will turn 100 this July. He is the longest-serving leader in Malaysia, having served twice as prime minister, first as leader of UMNO from 1981 to 2003 and then as leader of Bersatu from 2018 to 2020. He served as the fourth and seventh prime ministers of Malaysia, respectively.

In August 2020, after leaving Bersatu, Mahathir founded Parti Pejuang Tanah Air. In November 2022, following electoral defeat and stepping down as chairman of Parti Pejuang Tanah Air, he effectively ended his political career but remains active in various political events.

In recent years, he has frequently discussed Sino-related issues in public. He once said that Western countries hope to provoke confrontation between nations, contrasting sharply with China's efforts to mediate disputes. He believed that war is not a way to solve problems, and all parties should sit down and communicate instead of escalating tensions through cutting diplomatic relations or provocative actions.

Last week, Mahathir gave interviews to several media outlets in his office. He pointed out that China has the technology and capability to withstand slowing economic growth.

"The overall size of China's market is larger than the combined markets of Europe and America. So, China's economy will continue to grow; you cannot stop China," he said. "They are a very industrious ethnic group with skilled expertise; you cannot stop them from developing. China will do everything possible to retain its market share."

This article is an exclusive piece by the Guancha Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7512043029637628435/

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