Dr Mahathir comes out in support of Huawei, the Chinese technology giant blacklisted by the US amid claims the group aids Beijing in espionage.
Malaysia is unperturbed with the allegation of spying levelled against the Chinese tech giant Huawei and will continue to make use of their technology as much as possible, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.
“We are too small to have an impact on the company like Huawei, whose research is far bigger than the whole of Malaysia’s research capabilities.
“So we try to make use of their technology as much as possible. Yes, there may be some spying, but what is there to spy in Malaysia?” he said during a dialogue session at the 25th International Conference on The Future of Asia (Nikkei Conference) on Thursday.
Mahathir arrived in Tokyo Wednesday night for a three-day working visit.
The prime minister said Malaysia is an open book.
“Everybody knows if any countries want to invade Malaysia they can walk through,” he quipped.
During the session, he also called on the US’ administration to make concessions in its disputes with China, including the spat surrounding allegation of Huawei’s spying activities.
The prime minister also warned that failure to negotiate could lead both countries into a military conflict.
“(For instance), I understand Huawei has a tremendous advantage over American technology.
“But if you want to have a situation where you are always ahead and when you are not ahead I will ban you and send warships to your country, that is not a competition, that is threatening people and that is not the approach to use,” he stressed.
The Southeast Asian country will use Huawei’s gear “as much as possible” as they offer “tremendous advance over American technology,” Dr Mahathir said at a forum in Tokyo on Thursday.
The public comments by Dr Mahathir are a snub to the Trump administration’s campaign against the telecommunications network-gear maker. They also signal US efforts to win allies against Huawei are flopping in some countries that are prioritizing development of 5G wireless networks, one of the firm’s specialities.
The targeting of Huawei by the US has also complicated the trade war between Washington and Beijing, leaving telecom operators around the world to decide whether to shun the Chinese equipment maker.
This week, Singapore-based mobile phone carrier M1 Ltd said it’s open to more dealings with the Chinese company while flagging that there will be alternative providers as well for 5G infrastructure. A day later, Japan-based SoftBank Corp selected Nokia Oyj and Ericsson AB as vendors for its next-generation wireless network, excluding long-time supplier Huawei.
Dr Mahathir had also visited Huawei’s Beijing office in late April.
“We found that Huawei is very advanced” in the use of artificial intelligence, he said at the time. “We see there is an opportunity for us, together with Huawei, to improve our capacity in the fields of communication and AI.”
Outside Asia, the UK’s BT Group Plc announced plans to remove Huawei gear from the core of its mobile network soon after the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency MI6 said the UK warned about the risks of using Chinese equipment.