Guan Eng explains why he's not part of China trip

Lim Guan Eng. -Bernamapic

KUALA LUMPUR: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng refuted claims that he was denied entry into China for offending the Chinese government.

Lim was responding to claims made by Umno lawmaker Tan Sri Annuar Musa who sought clarification why the Finance Minister was not included in the list of delegates for the planned trip to China.

“I don't understand why the Ketereh MP gave the impression that I wanted to fix up the contractors from China.

“It's just his imagination,” Lim said when winding up his ministry's debate in Parliament on Monday.

In reference to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) investigations into Chinese companies involved in several mega projects here, he said, “The MACC is free to investigate any case.”

Lim added that claims of him being dropped from the list of delegates visiting China were also baseless.

He said the reason why he was not included in the list was because he had to attend the Dewan Negara sessions which start on Aug 20.

“I have to be in the Senate next Monday to manage five Bills that will be tabled by the new Government,” he said, adding that it is crucial that the Bills are passed by the Senate.

Lim was making to reference to Bills passed by the Dewan Rakyat last week to abolish the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and reintroduce the Sales and Service Tax (SST) this Sept 1.