US-China trade war damaging, risks turning into cold war, says Dr M

KUALA LUMPUR: The trade war between the United States and China has been "most disappointing" as it would negatively impact the rest of the world, inflicting collateral damage, says Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The Prime Minister said what started out as a "trading skirmish" between two giant nations had now become a trade war.

He added that it had the prospect of worsening into a long-term cold war.

"Both the United States and China would not be spared either, since the purpose of any war is to hurt each other.

"Some would say such a conflict is inevitable. China is clearly rising rapidly on virtually every front, and a long-dominant United States seems unable or unwilling to accommodate it.

"I hope the US and China will soon see enough sense to replace conflict with cooperation.

"Everyone will stand to gain much more when we collaborate with each other, but healthy competition should also be acceptable," he said in his keynote address at the 33rd Asia-Pacific Roundtable 'A New Malaysia in a Changing Regional Order' on Tuesday (June 25).

Dr Mahathir said Malaysia had always subscribed to the idea that nations which may be opposed to each other should find common grounds and become partners in ventures and endeavours that would benefit both.

Hostility and belligerence, he said, benefit no one except arms traders and war profiteers.

"And such rejection of wars serves our region well as it has enjoyed relative peace and has prospered from that very peace.

"I've been saying this, and I will repeat it again here today.

"At a time when we pride ourselves on being civilised, we find leading nations still bent on killing people in the pursuit of their national interest and agenda," he added.

Dr Mahathir said there was nothing civilised nor advanced when war was an option to resolve problems.

He called for war to be criminalised and for a campaigning against it to be initiated.

He added that campaigns against war must be accepted as an international creed, very much like commitments to protect the environment, freedom and fundamental liberties.

"In fact, criminalising wars should be one of the top priorities of the international communities, knowing (as we do) that when wars are fought, human lives become insignificant.

"How can that be acceptable when we know in a war, civilians, children, women, the weak, the sick and the elderly face the same possibilities of being killed as the soldiers?" he said.

While international communities campaign for the abolishment of capital punishments, Dr Mahathir said people choose to be silent when thousands of civilians and soldiers were killed in military campaigns.

"And the warmongers love to glorify their killers with medals and statues and repeated mentions in their history books.

"Wars are about killings and massive destruction. It is primitive, and if we consider ourselves civilised, we should oppose wars," he added.

Dr Mahathir said that this was the creed that Malaysia – both the new and the old – had always subscribed to. He said he was glad that this was shared by Asean nations.