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PHILIPPINES-MALAYSIA-CHINA-DIPLOMACY
Malaysian PM warns Philippines against foreigner influx
MANILA, March 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
on Thursday warned the Philippines against letting in foreigners who could
“disturb the political equations” as President Rodrigo Duterte’s Beijing
pivot sparks an influx of Chinese workers.
At least 200,000 Chinese have flocked to Manila since Duterte’s 2016
election, many of them employed by online gaming firms that cater to Chinese
players, a Philippine Senate inquiry was told late last year.
This has touched off concern, with some Filipino politicians alleging it
drives up property prices, takes away jobs from locals and even affects tax
revenues.
Mahathir, who has suspended several of his nation’s major projects with
China, warned during an official visit to the Philippines against allowing a
surge of foreigners.
“Foreign direct investment should not involve bringing huge numbers of
foreigners to live in the country because that might disturb the political
equations in the country,” Mahathir told ABS-CBN television in an interview.
“If huge numbers of any foreigners (come) to live and stay in the country
or to even influence the economy of a country, then you have to do some
rethinking as to whether it is good or bad, or the limits that you have to
impose on them,” Mahathir said.
Mahathir, 93, is in the Philippines for the first time since his shock
election victory last year. He will meet with Duterte later on Thursday.
The Malaysian leader has taken a cautious approach to relations with
China, saying he would discuss “unfair” terms of deals signed by his
predecessor, Najib Razak.
Duterte’s pursuit of closer ties with China for the Philippines — a
traditional ally of the United States — has prompted a surge of Chinese
worker arrivals.
Last year legislators said around 200,000 Chinese were working in the
country, and vowed to introduce protection for Filipinos.
Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez had also said he would
ensure that foreigners working in the nation’s offshore gaming industry paid
taxes.
However, Duterte last month said Chinese workers should be allowed to
continue staying in the country as Beijing also hosted hundreds of thousands
of Filipinos. Most of them are domestic workers in Hong Kong.
Duterte has warmly embraced China despite his nation’s long-standing
maritime row with Beijing over the South China Sea.
Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the resource-rich sea, with
competing claims from the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Commenting on the sea dispute on Thursday, Mahathir said there should be
no impediment to vessels using the strategic waterway, through which
trillions of dollars in global trade pass through each year.
“The most important thing is that the South China Sea in particular must
be open to navigation,” he said.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1130 hrs