‘I will visit China as soon as I am free’

TOKYO: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been invited to visit China and he will be going there as soon as he is “free”.

“I want to go to China. This visit to Japan was because initially, I wanted to attend the Nikkei Conference, which I do every year.

“But I will visit China as soon as I am free,” he told reporters yesterday.

He was responding to a question on whether he planned to visit Beijing as he was constantly asked about the role of China during his various dialogues here.

Despite his complaints on the onerous terms in China’s loans for various projects such as the East Coast Rail Link and the Forest City development in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Dr Mahathir continued to maintain that Malaysia would remain friendly with the economic giant.

Earlier, during the courtesy call on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, both countries also expressed hope for the success of the Trump-Kim Summit in Singapore.

Dr Mahathir said for the summit to yield positive results, both sides must be prepared to give in to certain issues.

“Expecting only one side to give in will not see good results,” he said.