SHAH ALAM - Malaysia may have sacrificed its national independence to satisfy the demands of the United States (US) in trade dealings, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He expressed concern that the trade relationship between the two nations was no longer reciprocal but instead reflected how Malaysia yielded to the will of the global superpower.
"Unfortunately, in the so-called reciprocal trade between the United States and Malaysia, we have sacrificed our independence by allowing that country to impose its will on us.
"What we are witnessing is not a partnership, let alone reciprocity. It is a surrender of the economic freedom that we painstakingly built and defended,” he said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
Dr Mahathir appeared disappointed at what he described as the willingness of current leaders to trade away the nation’s independence merely for short-term interests and foreign recognition.
“I never thought I would live to see Malaysian leaders willing to hand over our independence just to look impressive for a few minutes and to be patted on the head by foreign leaders.
“But this is what’s happening now and we have to bow to the demands of the United States in almost every trade and economic matter. It seems we’ve given up our sovereignty,” he said.
He reminded that Malaysia’s founding leaders fought hard to achieve self-determination in 1957, followed by years of effort to eliminate foreign influence, particularly in trade and economic matters.
“Surely Malaysians still remember the ‘Dawn Raid’ and the ‘Buy British Last’ campaign as examples of our determination to defend independence and our refusal to bow to foreign powers because we are a sovereign nation and were willing to die to protect that sovereignty,” he added.
However, Dr Mahathir said Malaysia now seems bound by numerous conditions set by the superpower in almost every trade negotiation.
“We agreed to buy their airplanes, gas and machinery, comply with their digital regulations, allow them to profit from our rare earth minerals, open our markets under their terms and even follow their restrictions on who we can or cannot trade with,” he said.
Dr Mahathir said all this was done merely to obtain slight tariff reductions, questioning the effectiveness of the ‘exit clause’ in the agreement.
“Yes, there is an exit clause, but from the beginning, there were already terms that clearly restrict Malaysia’s independence, so why did we agree to such a deal?” he said.
He also doubted whether the US would easily agree if Malaysia were to terminate the agreement in the future.
“If the government uses the exit clause to withdraw from this lopsided deal, it will be clear that the government did not know how to negotiate properly in the first place,” he said.
Dr Mahathir described the situation as a new form of colonialism, or neocolonialism, which regional leaders had long warned against since the early days of independence.
“Stop using terms like trade, cooperation or diplomacy. Admit that you have traded away our nation’s independence because you lacked courage and were too eager to please foreign powers.
“And that very power is the one supporting and committing mass killings against the Palestinian people,” he said.