Today, I would like to ask the Chinese premier to be very guarded during his visit to Malaysia so that he would not be seen to be involved in Malaysian politics in the tenth general election.
Malaysians of all races and political parties would always welcome the visit of the Chinese Premier as well as other leaders of the Chinese government, as Malaysians cherish the relationship between Malaysia and China as an important cornerstone of Malaysian foreign relations.
I had suggested that one way for the Barisan Nasional to avoid all suspicion that it would try to play the Chinese card is for the caretaker government to have invited and involve all opposition leaders in the programmes of the Chinese premier’s visit. Unfortunately, the caretaker government of Mahathir had turned a deaf ear to this proposal.
I hope that my suggestion that any announcement of the re-establishment of the Bank of China in Malaysia, if agreed upon during Zhu’s visit, would only be announced after polling day on Nov. 29 would be given serious consideration by the leaders of both countries.
DAP wants Zhu’s visit to Malaysia in the midst of an election campaign to be smooth-sailing and be spared of any controversy whatsoever, without compromising the Malaysian national honour and dignity or embarrassing the foreign dignitary - resulting in a further maturity of the relations between the peoples of both nations.
(22/11/99)