PM says not Malaysia’s job to promote China’s geopolitics.
DAP and its Youth wing were completely uninvolved in a propaganda comic book that promoted China’s Belt-Road Initiative and was produced by ex-member Hew Kuan Yew, said Howard Lee.
The DAP Socialist Youth chief said the party and his movement were also not responsible for placing the books in the libraries of local vernacular schools.
“The comic book’s contents are the personal views of the author working under an Asia Comic Culture Museum initiative. Whether the views are right or wrong depends on the reader’s interpretation.
“However, the contents do not reflect the stand of DAP or its Socialist Youth,” Lee said in a statement.
Lee added, however, that his party supported freedom of expression so long as its practice does not violate the law or infringe on the rights of others.
The pro-China propaganda in the comics is troublesome for DAP that continues to be accused of supporting communism. China is superficially communist.
Hew, also known as Superman Hew, had been a prominent member of DAP who officially resigned from the party in 2016 after his controversial remarks were associated with it.
He left ostensibly to curate the Penang Comic Art and Manga Museum, now known as the Asia Comic Culture Museum that produced the controversial pro-China comic.
Despite being a former member, Hew has remained prominent in the party’s affairs and is frequently featured in its election campaigning.
After Pakatan Harapan won the general election last year, Hew was also appointed the chief executive officer of the Malaysia-China Business Council that is headed by DAP chairman Tan Kok Wai.
Meanwhile, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad emphasised today that it was not Malaysia’s role to promote China’s Belt-Road Initiative, amid the controversy of a propaganda comic with that aim produced by former DAP member Hew Kuan Yau.
The prime minister said the country’s rejection of foreign influence was not only limited to Western countries.
“At the moment, it is not for us to promote China’s ideas and ideologies but to find out how we can benefit from them.
“As much as we didn’t like Western influence in our strategies and schools, we don’t want other countries to have undue influence on our young people,” he said during the forum session of the Malaysian Beyond 2020 conference at Hilton Kuala Lumpur today.
Last week, critics revealed that the comic titled ‘Belt and Road Initiative for Win-Winism’ edited by Hew and produced by the Asia Comic Culture Museum, where he is a curator, was being distributed to secondary schools in the country.
The comic parroted the Communist Party of China’s political views and controversially described as extremists the Malays who believed in the alleged mistreatment of the Uighur Muslim minority.
After photographs emerged online of Dr Mahathir presenting the comic to China President Xi Jinping during a visit last year, the Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement disavowing the comic and its contents.
The Education Ministry has said the distribution of the comic to schools was unapproved while the Home Ministry has also said it will investigate.
While leaders of DAP have sought to distance themselves from former member Hew, 43 of the party’s members and lawmakers have spoken up in his defence.