1MDB PM Najib’s Umno-led BN embraces corruption and dirty national polls?

Updated: See bottom of story from malaysiakini

1MDB PM Najib’s Umno-led BN embraces corruption and dirty national polls?

So, just what are the Umno Red Shirt thugs protesting? What are they so afraid of?

It is baffling that the law continues to tolerate and endorses the acts of the racial and religious bigots or thugs by taking no stern action against them thus far.

Why must the Umno thugs be allowed to create public disturbance? Can’t they just conduct their own peaceful protests or organise their own convoys?

Perhaps, no one or Malaysian would bother to take notice of their actions and cause, so they need to behave like hooligans and harass others for attention.

And the knows-no-shame 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Prime Minister Najib Razak’s Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government continues to take no notice of such hooligans who are also threatening national unity.

Is BN endorsing the actions of the Red Shirts who are actually saying they do not want Bersih (Clean)? They want corruption and dirty general elections?

Read this report by online news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT) and judge for yourself if the Red Shirts are just plain political thugs or lackeys:

"Red Shirts ‘harass Bersih convoy’ in Lumut
Robin Augustin

| October 1, 2016

Activist Ivy Josiah says more than 40 Red Shirt members' on motorcycles and in cars target the car carrying her, Tian Chua and another lawyer.


PETALING JAYA: Bersih reform group activists reported tense moments in Lumut, Perak, when Red Shirt supporters harassed a convoy of cars which were part of a nationwide campaign to publicise the Bersih 5.0 rally next month.

“They shouted Mati Bersih (Die Bersih), and at one point, one of their cars actually overtook us and blocked our car, resulting in a slight knock,” said human rights activist Ivy Josiah.

The Red Shirted driver of the other car got out and began circling their car, but they remained calm and stayed in their car, later driving around the Red Shirt car and proceeding with their journey to Teluk Intan.

She was travelling in a car with Batu MP Tian Chua, his driver and Meera Samanther, president of the Association of Women Lawyers.

Josiah told FMT that the trouble began after the launch of the Lumut convoy.

Police had kept Red Shirt members and Bersih activists apart at the launching ceremony. But when the convoy took to the road, Red Shirt supporters went after the convoy, which consisted of some 12 vehicles draped in Bersih flags.

She said some 40 Red Shirt supporters on motorcycles and in cars began targeting cars in the Bersih convoy, screaming at the occupants and pulling off the flags on the car.

“They were very aggressive and provocative,” Josiah said.

She said that others in the convoy had also told them that they faced similar harassment, with some on motorcycles thumping the car windows with their fists.

Bersih 2.0 chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah told FMT that Bersih activists in Padang Besar, Perlis, had reported that one Bersih supporter had been pelted with a stone, allegedly thrown by a Red Shirt supporter.

She said she was very disappointed with this, adding that there was no need for them to act like gangsters.

Earlier this week, Red Shirt leader Jamal Yunos launched “Merah V2” — a campaign aimed at countering the electoral watchdog’s Bersih 5 convoys, which are being flagged off at various towns and cities.

Jamal said members of the Red Shirts movement were set to “descend” on all locations announced by Bersih 2.0.

The objective of the Bersih 5 Convoy is to raise awareness of the need for institutional reforms and the severity of the 1MDB crisis."

"Electoral reform group Bersih has reiterated the need for the Election Commission (EC) to introduce automatic voter registration.

This was amid mad scramble to register voters with the expectation that the general election may be held in the first quarter of next year.

“There has been too much misinformation over the past few weeks over deadlines to register to vote and false mechanisms to register through WhatsApp or SMS.

“Bersih believes this misinformation is due to the systematic failure of the Election Commission to facilitate voter registration.

“Bersih repeats its long-held demand to introduce automatic voter registration, based on information already held by the National Registration Department,” it said in a statement today.

It further pointed out that automatic voter registration was one of the recommendations in the 2012 report by the parliamentary selection committee on electoral reform.

“The automated process will further assist in ensuring voters are registered with the correct and up-to-date addresses.

“In the long run it will lead to a more accurate electoral roll,” it said.

Bersih said at present, there are some four million eligible citizens that have yet to be registered as voters.

It notes that the EC had, after the last general election, made it increasingly difficult for political parties and NGOs to register new voters by blocking their applications to be assistant registrar officers.

“At the current rate of registration by the EC, there is little chance of this number being reduced before the next general election,” it said.

Bersih said that the EC cannot abdicate its role in ensuring Malaysians can exercise their democratic right to vote.

He also pointed out that automatic voter registration did not equal to compulsory voting.

“Automatic voter registration gives people the option to vote on polling day without having to find the time and resources to register months in advance,” it said.

There had been a mad rush to register voters before Sept 30 based on the belief that those who do not have their names in the third quarter electoral roll will not be able to vote if the election falls on the first quarter of next year.

However, EC chairperson Hashim Abdullah today clarified that those who registered after Sept 30 will have their names included in the fourth quarter of 2016 electoral roll.

He also urged citizens not to wait until the last minute to register as voters.

Bersih reiterates need for automatic voter registration amid rush for GE14

‘There has been too much misinformation over the past few weeks,’ says the polls reform group.

MALAYSIAKINI.COM"

Dr M to 1MDB PM Najib: ‘It’s a bit stupid, isn’t it?’

Dr M to 1MDB PM Najib: ‘It’s a bit stupid, isn’t it?’

No News Is Bad News is not doing any writing or commentary in this blog posting.

We are re-posting a June 27, 2016, South China Morning Post (SCMP) interview with the 91-year-old Dr Mahathir Mohamad who ruled Malaysia for 22 years.

If you have not read it, this is for your reading pleasure and benefit:

"Mahathir takes swipe at Najib over Malaysia’s ‘stupid’ Chinese business deal

The 90-year-old former prime minister launches new salvo at Najib Razak over the sale of energy assets of scandal-plagued state fund 1MDB

PUBLISHED : Monday, 27 June, 2016, 5:22pm

UPDATED : Tuesday, 28 June, 2016, 9:29am
Malaysia’s longest-serving premier, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has taken aim at embattled prime Minister Najib Razak’s “stupid” energy deal with China, as he vows to continue to campaign against his one-time prodigy-turned political nemesis one year after he was linked to scandal-hit state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)

The 90-year-old former leader has been openly hostile to Najib, who has battled allegations that billions were looted from state fund 1MDB in a vast campaign of fraud and embezzlement stretching from the Middle East to the Caymans.

One year after 1MDB scandal, Najib takes Malaysia on ‘lurch toward dictatorship’

In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post, Mahathir slammed Najib’s recent sale of state energy assets to the Chinese government.

“It is something that is wrong in terms of ... national policy,” Mahathir said

China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) bought 1 Malaysia Development Berhad’s Edra Global Energy in March for US$2.3 billion, giving Beijing a major foothold in the energy sector.

Usually, foreign investors can only own up to 49 per cent of Malaysian power companies unless they are exempt by the government. According to a Moody’s Investors Service report, CGN was granted a waiver by Kuala Lumpur.

“Here are power plants belonging to Malaysians - and you buy it up and sell it to another nation. That is wrong,” Mahathir said.

“Our people have the money to run it. They were doing reasonably well. But you offer to buy [the power assets] at a higher price than the market. Then you offer to sell it at a lower price. It’s a bit stupid, isn’t it?”

China becomes Malaysia’s biggest foreign investor, thanks to 1MDB purchases

Mahathir said he was not anti-China, but questioned the government’s logic with the deal.

“On the one hand there is some benefit,” he said.

“We want to be friendly with China, we have no quarrel with China. We need to be balanced. We need to know what is the consequence. There will always be the plus and the minus, pros and cons.”

Mahathir, who lead Malaysia for 22 years, has been calling for Najib to step down since problems with the state-owned company 1MDB began to surface last year. Najib was plunged into the crisis in July when it was revealed that US$681 million in transfers were made to his personal bank accounts in 2013. He says they were “personal donations” from the Saudi royal family.

“As far as I am concerned, 1MDB is verging on the criminal. I cannot possibly overlook that and say let’s go on,” Mahathir said.

IMDB is also under investigation for alleged money laundering and embezzlement in at least 6 countries including Switzerland, Luxembourg, US and Singapore.

Najib chaired the advisory board of 1MDB which racked up RM42 billion ringgit (US$9.6 billion) in debts in less than five years. It defaulted on interest payments for two bonds recently.

Foreign governments pile pressure on Malaysia over mysterious money moves

As part of the efforts to pay off its debts, 1MDB sold its power assets and a property development venture to Chinese companies, reducing its debt by RM40.4 billion ringgit (US$10 billion), according to Najib. He was replaced as 1MDB chairman with Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah in May, but denies any wrongdoing.

Mahathir said that while Malaysia practised openness in trade, the same could not be said for China.

“We are a very open [market]. While we have to be open and friendly, we have also to think about our own people’s needs,” Mahathir said.


“We can’t go to China and make a bid like that. They exercise some form of protection by making specs that you cannot conform to.”

As an example, he pointed out that mainland-made cars were being sold in the country.

“But we can’t go to China and export into China completely built-up cars. We cannot even manufacture cars there without a special licence … the licence is very difficult to get,” said Mahathir who spearheaded the country’s production of Malaysia’s Proton cars.

‘It’s absurd’: Mukhriz Mahathir lashes Malaysian government’s claims he has plotted with his father to take top job

Najib this month won two by-elections by landslides - votes that were seen as referendums on his rule.

Mahathir had campaigned against Najib, accusing him of corruption due to his handling of the 1MDB fiasco.

While he was disappointed with Najib’s wins, he admitted 1MDB was a tough issue to sell to voters.

“1MDB it is very complicated. The farmers and the fishermen cannot even visualise one million ringgit, [let alone] 42 billion ringgit,” Mahathir said.

“They don’t feel the impact of 1MDB and the need for the government to pay off huge debts.”

Mahathir also conceded that despite his efforts, Najib could be re-elected in 2018: “There is that possibility of course.”

Najib has accused Mahathir of trying to oust him so that his son, Mukhriz Mahathir, who was until recently a member of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno) party, could take over. On Friday, Umno expelled the younger Mahathir and former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin for “demonising” Najib’s leadership. Both were previouslhip takeover by his son, saying if he wanted his son in power, he would have done that when he was prime minister between 1981 and 2003.

PM Najib slams Mahathir over son’s interview: ‘He should stop this distraction for Malaysia’

“If in the first place, I wanted to do something for my son, there was a time when I was in the seat [of power], and I could have promoted him. I actually prevented him from going into politics,” he said.

“He went into politics on his own after I stepped down. For me to have this fantastic design, it’s an absurd suggestion.”

Najib’s office has also called on Mahathir to name his candidate to replace him to prove he harboured no such ambitions for his son.

“I don’t have anybody in mind really. If [Najib] goes away, Umno and the ruling coalition BN, will still be in power. They have to choose from within themselves,” Mahathir said.

Mahathir, who left Umno in February this year, dismissed the claims of engineering a leadership takeover by his son, saying if he wanted his son in power, he would have done that when he was prime minister between 1981 and 2003.

PM Najib slams Mahathir over son’s interview: ‘He should stop this distraction for Malaysia’

“If in the first place, I wanted to do something for my son, there was a time when I was in the seat [of power], and I could have promoted him. I actually prevented him from going into politics,” he said.

“He went into politics on his own after I stepped down. For me to have this fantastic design, it’s an absurd suggestion.”

Najib’s office has also called on Mahathir to name his candidate to replace him to prove he harboured no such ambitions for his son.

“I don’t have anybody in mind really. If [Najib] goes away, Umno and the ruling coalition BN, will still be in power. They have to choose from within themselves,” Mahathir said.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Reuters"

Carry on 1MDB PM Najib - Malaysians and Malaysia will pay dearly for racism and radicalism

Umno red shirts can almost do no wrong in Malaysia with their racist and religious taunts and jibes of non-Malays

Carry on 1MDB PM Najib - Malaysians and Malaysia will pay dearly for racism and radicalism

Malaysia was once considered by the rest of the world as a role model moderate Muslim-dominated state.

Today, it is fast becoming a world famous racist and radical nation - a breeding and training haven for Islamic State (IS) terrorists.

And Malaysians have only 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Prime Minister Najib Razak and his Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government to thank for Malaysia’s current low status. (Read this for context: http://victorlim2016.blogspot.my/2016/09/1mdb-pm-najibs-malaysia-now-truly.html)

Umno supporter Ali Tinju, an ex-serviceman, can openly threaten Malaysians with death without running foul of the law

It is also fast destroying Malaysia as a conducive venue for foreign investors. Even local investors are fleeing.

This is what foreigners think of Malaysia today:

"WORLDPOST
Malaysia’s Dangerous Path

09/30/2016 06:02 pm ET | Updated 6 hours ago

Daniel Wagner Managing Director of Risk Cooperative / Co-author of “Global Risk Agility and Decision Making”.
Muslims from around the world have long chosen Malaysia as a holiday destination, being widely viewed as a moderate Muslim country, where people of diverse ethnicity and religion live in harmony. Muslims account for approximately 60 percent of the population (most of them being ethnic Malay), with Chinese and Indian minorities accounting for most of the rest, practicing Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism as they please. That is part of what makes Malaysia unique. Its tranquility is now under threat, however, a combination of simmering ethnic tension and government action that is taking the country down a dangerous path.

For decades, Malaysia’s main opposition party - the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) - has promoted the adoption of Islamic law, and for decades the government has objected to such law, until now. Prime Minister Najib Razak has for many months been embroiled in a corruption scandal, in which he has admitted accepting nearly $700 million as a “donation” to him. Moreover, his government is in trouble, as urban voters are increasingly rejecting the ruling United Malay National Organization (UMNO) and it policies. Many Malaysians have had enough of Mr. Najib, UMNO, and the current government.

Mr. Najib and UMNO have therefore decided to court rural Malays, who tend to be more conservative and who support PAS in greater numbers than their urban counterparts. In May of this year, UMNO fast-tracked the reading of a bill drafted by PAS which sought to increase the punishment courts may impose on those Muslims convicted of religious offenses through existing Islamic courts. Opening that Pandora’s Box has naturally created an uproar among moderate Muslims in the country.
Islamic law is already enforced in some capacity in the more conservative parts of the country, where, for example, religious authorities already check patrons’ religion in hotels and bars. The authorities may already jail those who do not practice official interpretations of the law. Some PAS members want Muslims convicted of drinking alcohol to receive up to 80 lashes of the rattan cane, and for adulterers to receive up to 100 lashes of the cane, in ominous echoes of the punishment already dispensed in countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia. Is the next step amputations for stealing and hangings for being gay? Moderate Muslims know that such a pivot toward the imposition of Islamic law usually only leads in one direction: more of the same.

UMNO had previously maintained that it opposed such measures, but it, and Mr. Najib, appear already to have concluded that floggings are a small price to pay to elicit the political support of PAS. The very idea that Mr. Najib and UMNO would embrace Islamic law for political gain is despicable, but also extremely short-sighted, given that doing so would likely prove to be difficult to reverse in the future, as well as having unintended consequences.

The imposition of Islamic law could embolden the country’s most reactionary Muslims, who already favor the establishment of an Islamic state in Malaysia. More than 10 percent of Malaysians said just that in a recent survey. In July, Malaysian police arrested 14 suspected members of the Islamic State (IS), who were planning attacks on nightclubs and a Hindu temple. Recent estimates suggest that Malaysia is home to up to 150 members of the IS.

Promoting Islamic law also undermines the social compact the government has had with the Malaysian people since the 1970s, though that has been flawed. Following the severe race riots between Malays and Chinese in 1969, the government put in place its New Economic Policy, designed to ease conflict between different ethnicities and achieve national unity through what was supposed to be equality in economic opportunity.

However, concurrent with the NEP, the government implemented its “Bumiputra” system of preferential treatment for citizens of Malay descent (which for example resulted in the civil service being 85% populated by Malays and quota systems being put in place to favor Malay students in universities). Bumiputra was supposed to be temporary, but ended up becoming a pillar of modern Malaysian politics. It has since served as a source of resentment for citizens not of Malay descent. Racial tension has been simmering beneath the surface ever since. Anti-Chinese sentiment never disappeared and has recently flared up, as Malay nationalism rises in conjunction with Mr. Najib’s and UMNO’s actions.
A Muslim country that once defined moderation and modernity is now in danger of traveling down a judicial slippery slope leading to the Dark Ages. Should that occur, Malaysia would undoubtedly prove to be a breeding ground for the IS and other Islamic extremist groups, with implications for countries throughout the region, most notably neighboring Thailand and Singapore. The Malaysian government’s fierce opposition to Islamic extremism over the past 15 years, and its successes in opposing it, stand to be overridden by what is becoming its own self-destructive behavior. Should Mr. Najib and UMNO continue down that path, racial divisiveness is sure to become further inflamed. With the Malaysian stock market near its low since Mr. Najib’s re-election, and with the Malaysian ringgit brushing up against its all-time low with the U.S. dollar, the markets have little faith in the country’s near term future - and with good reason.

*Daniel Wagner is Managing Director of Risk Cooperative and co-author of the new book “Global Risk Agility and Decision Making”. - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-wagner/malaysias-dangerous-path_b_12272322.html?"

Dr M: 1MDB PM Najib should be arrested for sabotaging Malaysia’s democracy

Dr M: 1MDB PM Najib should be arrested for sabotaging Malaysia’s democracy

No News Is Bad News is not doing any writing or commentary in this blog posting.

We are just reproducing a report by online news portal malaysiakini for the reading benefit of our visitors and readers. The report was picked up and re-posted by the Malaysian-banned online news portal Malaysia Chronicle:

"MAHATHIR THROWS IGP A ‘HAND-GRENADE’: ARREST & CHARGE NAJIB – THE EVIDENCE AGAINST HIM IS OVERWHELMING
Politics | September 30, 2016 by | 0 Comments

While Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had rebuked his opponents of trying to oust his democratically-elected government, his archnemesis Dr Mahathir Mohamad said it was Najib who is against democracy.

“Najib claims his government is democratic and any attempts to remove it is against democracy. This is a baseless claim and laughable.

“A practice accepted in democracy is the removal of leaders who have failed, unsatisfactory or done wrong against the country,” said Mahathir in a blog posting yesterday.

The former prime minister said this is seen in Australia, United States, Britain and Brazil where their leaders quit or were removed before their term was up.

“What has happened now is Najib has rejected democracy. The evidence is overwhelming,” said Mahathir.

He said among the example was the absence of the separation of powers as Najib now controlled the legislative, executive and judiciary, while MPs are forced to comply with the prime minister’s will.

This resulted in the inability to bring a no-confidence vote against Najib in Parliament.
He added that civil servants, police, the military, businesspersons as well as the media were also being made to submit to Najib or face retribution.

Mahathir also noted that the newly introduced National Security Act 2016 disallows an inquest in the event a citizen or a member of the security forces is killed.

“All this is clear evidence that Najib has destroyed democracy in this country.
“The one who should be arrested and charged in court is Najib for sabotaging democracy in Malaysia.

“As long as Najib is the prime minister, Malaysia will not be democratic. Far from it, Malaysia will have an iron fist government that does not adhere to the rule of law,” he said.

Najib had accused Mahathir and his allies of trying to oust his government to make way for his son, Mukhriz, to be prime minister.

However, Mahathir claimed he is out to remove Najib over wrongdoings in the 1MDB scandal, where billions of ringgit have allegedly gone missing.

Najib had repeatedly denied taking public funds for personal gain.
– M’kini"

US ‘retreats’ in apparent move to diffuse SCS tension

U.S. Deploys Fleet Of Warships In South China Sea Face-off

Face Off: China's Navy Stalks U.S. Ship in South China Sea

US ‘retreats’ in apparent move to diffuse SCS tension

This No News Is Bad News blog posting is to update our visitors and readers on our earlier posting titled “Will 1MDB PM Najib’s Malaysia be with the Cina Babi (Chinese Pigs) when the US-China naval war breaks out” (http://victorlim2016.blogspot.my/2016/09/will-1mdb-pm-najibs-malaysia-be-with.html).

It is a report published by Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post:

"Pentagon told to tone down China rhetoric in latest sign US may seek to diffuse tensions

US military chiefs have been barred from publicly using phrase ‘great power competition’ to refer to challenges posed by PLA

PUBLISHED : Friday, 30 September, 2016, 12:10am

UPDATED : Friday, 30 September, 2016, 4:27am
The White House appears to want to stabilise ties with Beijing in the final months of the Obama administration, Chinese analysts said on Thursday, after a weekend report that Pentagon chiefs had been barred from publicly using “great power competition” in reference to military challenges from China.

The analysts said the US National Security Council’s reported gag order was another sign that Washington intended to ease its tension with Beijing over disputes in the South China Sea.

“Sino-US ties will stay stable ‘no matter who is elected’ as US president: China’s Premier Li Keqiang”



Citing four sources familiar with a classified directive, the US’ Navy Times, a weekly publication for US naval personnel and their families, reported on Sunday that the NSC ordered Pentagon leaders to strike out the phrase “great power competition” and find something less inflammatory.

The news outlet quoted White House officials as saying the term inaccurately framed the US and China as on a collision course.

“China-US relations seem to have been hijacked by the South China Sea issues - SU HAO, FOREIGN RELATIONS EXPERT, CHINA FOREIGN AFFAIRS UNIVERSITY”
But other experts warned that China’s assertiveness in the South and East China seas, including its ship building, artificial islands and expansive claims in the disputed waters, were hostile to US interests, the report said.

The Pentagon did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Su Hao, an international relations professor at China Foreign Affairs University, said the rhetoric of US Defence Secretary Ash Carter and other US military leaders often gave the impression that “the US and China are in rivalry and opposition”.

“China-US relations seem to have been hijacked by the South China Sea issues, or by the military, which does not fairly describe the comprehensiveness of the bilateral ties,” Su said.

A Sino-US deal on the South China Sea is difficult, but not impossible

“If US President Barack Obama leaves Sino-US relations in chaos [to his successor], that would not be desirable,” Su said. “The White House must carefully consider how to stabilise relations.”

Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie said the NSC directive indicated the White House might be worried that the Pentagon’s dramatic take on Chinese military challenges could backfire on US ties with China.

A Sino-US relations expert with a Chinese official think tank said Beijing and Washington had, in a way, reached an agreement that neither would take a steps to trigger direct conflict over the South China Sea.

“Neither side wants to escalate tension, preferring talks between civilian officials - LI JIE, NAVAL EXPERT”

For example, he said, the US withdrew its aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, to Hawaii on July 5, one week before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague rejected Beijing’s claims over the South China Sea.

“China also made some compromises ... and it is unlikely it will build an artificial island in the Scarborough Shoal, or set up an air defence identification zone in the South China Sea,” he said. “Neither side wants to escalate tension, preferring talks between civilian officials, or a diplomatic way, to solve the problems.” - South China Morning Post"

Will 1MDB PM Najib’s Malaysia be with the Cina Babi (Chinese Pigs) when the US-China naval war breaks out?

 A handout photo provided by the Chinese Navy shows a Shang class fast attack nuclear submarine

Will 1MDB PM Najib’s Malaysia be with the Cina Babi (Chinese Pigs) when the US-China naval war breaks out?

Military tensions in the South China Sea (SCS) continue to escalate between China and the US.

But the rest of the world must bear in mind that should such a naval war breaks out for geo-political and economic dominance, it will not only be between the US and China.

The clashes will be more devastating because the 21st Century Cold War is actually the US vs the China-Russia joint-military might.

1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Prime Minister Najib Razak appears to be leaning towards China, both economically and militarily. (Read theses for context: http://victorlim2016.blogspot.my/2016/09/us-vs-china-russia-21st-century-cold.html, http://victorlim2016.blogspot.my/2016/09/china-russia-vs-us-military-tension.html and http://victorlim2016.blogspot.my/2016/09/asia-dumps-us-for-china-1mdb-pm-najib.html)

China’s massive military and naval installations in the SCS

But is Najib favouring China for all the right reasons and in the interest of Malaysians and Malaysia, or is it for bailing out 1MDB (Read this for context: http://victorlim2016.blogspot.my/2016/09/cash-strapped-1mdb-pm-najib-selling.html)



When Najib is no more at the helm, will the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government continue with its “Look China” policy and continue to work with a race they label freely as Cina Babi (Chinese Pigs), Balik Tongsan (Go Back To China)?

And to those who think the US and China will not engage in a naval war, read this:

"


THE BUZZ
Are the U.S. and China Headed Towards a Naval War in Asia?
The United States does not have a coherent strategy to deal with a rising People’s Republic of China in the Western Pacific. Nor do foreign policy experts specializing in the Asia-Pacific region have a concrete set of ideas to coax an increasingly assertive Beijing into accepting the U.S.-led post-Second World War liberal-institutional world order or to reassert Washington’s dominance in the region.

It is becoming increasingly clear that China hopes to chart its own course independent of the existing Western frameworks as Beijing reaffirms its claims to the South China Sea and continues to build artificial islands in the region, but how policymakers in Washington will deal with the issue is an open question.

“U.S. policy has failed spectacularly,” Seth Cropsey, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told a small lunch gathering at the Center for the National Interest—which is the foreign policy think-tank that publishes The National Interest—on Sept. 28. “China’s actions show that it see us as a strategic competitor. We choose to see China as a large market that can be cajoled and persuaded into joining us as a defender of international security and economic security. U.S. policy makers hope that the large volume of trade between China and the U.S. and the accompanying economic progress in the former would remold Chinese rulers to look, think and act more like us. The evidence does not support this hope.”

But while the Chinese see the United States as a strategic competitor, experts agree that a military confrontation is not a foregone conclusion. Beijing hopes that it can force the United States to de facto accept the South China Sea as its territory. “I don’t think conflict—naval or otherwise—between the U.S. and China is inevitable,” Cropsey said. “More likely is that China will continue its effort to turn the international waters of the East and South China Sea into territorial waters.”

China is using a multipronged approach to deny U.S. naval and air forces access to the region using a sophistical network of anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) weapons. Additionally, Beijing is actively working to intimidate and harass U.S. allies in the region in the hopes that they will acquiesce to Chinese demands. But Beijing is not just using its military forces in its efforts to force America and its allies from the region, the China is using paramilitary forces and “maritime militia” to harass fishermen and other commercial users of those water from other nations in order to gain de facto control over the East and South China Seas.

“I do think that if U.S. policy continues largely to overlook increasing Chinese aggression off its international waters on its south coasts, the prospects for a Chinese hegemony will increase as our Asian friends and allies seek new accommodations, new trading partners and new security arrangements,” Cropseysaid. “Our willingness to resist China’s challenge to the international order is not growing.”

Indeed, Cropsey argues that American seapower is shrinking and that the naval balance in the Western Pacific is tilting toward China’s favor. The U.S. Congress simply does not understand how grave the situation is, Cropsey said. The United States must remember its large economic stake in Asia and the alliance network that girds those interests. “Instead of encouraging China to become a stakeholder in the international system, our goal ought to be to use diplomacy, military strength—including increased presence—to convince China that we will protect the international order...and ultimately—for this is what is at stake here—the United States’ broad interest in retaining our current position as a great power,”Cropsey said.

While Cropsey suggested that the United States shifts towards protecting its power in the Western Pacific, but he did not suggest any concrete course of action on exactly how Washington might achieve those aims. Retaining America’s position as the preeminent power in the Western Pacific likely requires a concerted grand strategy on the scale of President Harry S. Truman’s NSC-68—which formulated America’s response to the Soviet threat in 1950. However, most of the discussion focused on lower level policy questions directly relating to freedom of navigation (FON) in the South China Sea and policing fisheries.

Jeff Smith, director of Asian Security Programs at the American Foreign Policy Council—who was speaking alongside Cropsey—told the audience that China has been very clear that it does not believe U.S. military forces should be operating in the East and South China Seas. Beijing has made the calculation that it cannot effective prevent the United States from operating in the region right now, but as Chinese naval capabilities grow that might change. “There is a lot to suggest one day they may well be in a position to restrict the navigation of the U.S. military and believe they’re in a position to do so,” Smith said. “So the prospect for some kind of confrontation there is very real.”

The United States—despite never having ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)—interprets international law as allowing its warships to operate and conduct surveillance within any nations’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and pass through a nation’s 12-nautical mile territorial waters under “innocent passage.” That interpretation is widely accepted by the majority of maritime nations, however Beijing operates under a minority interpretation—shared by about two dozen countries—where it insists on prior notice before foreign warships may operate in its EEZ. “Unlike other countries who may send us a diplomatic protest when we operate, because we do these freedom of navigation operations—18,19, 20 a year—among friend and foe alike, Chinese vessels have actually confronted our warships,” Smith said. “This disagreement is very much out in the open and it’s becoming a test of wills.”

The United States believes that is on solid legal grounds to operate in seas claimed by China—bolstered by a recent Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling in The Hague in July. However, international law only goes so far in the face of hard power—and China is doubling down on its claims—both with rhetoric and with a combination of naval forces and so-called maritime militia. Smith didn’t offer any solutions as to how the United States and its allies should convince the Chinese to accept the status quo as its power grows.

Eric Gomez, a defense and foreign policy analyst with the Cato Institute—who was also presenting alongside Smith and Cropsey—offered a potential strategy for dealing with a rising China. Gomez suggests that the United States should moderate its goals to maintain commercial freedom of navigation and making sure territorial disputes in the region don’t turn into hot wars. If the United States can’t prevent territorial disputes from turning hot, it should work to prevent Beijing from gaining military domination over East Asia.

The United States should reduce the presence of its ground forces in the region, Gomez said. Those U.S. ground forces that remain should focus on anti-access/area denial capabilities such as coastal anti-ship cruise missile batteries and air and missile defense. Naval presence should remain constant, but the United States should focus less on aircraft carriers and much more on submarine warfare in order to focus on sea denial capabilities, Gomez said. Freedom of navigation operations should continue in response to specific Chinese actions such as the militarization of the South China Sea.

“Sea-denial with China is more defensively-oriented and plays into U.S. military advantages in undersea warfare and surface control,” Gomez said. “I don’t we should be trying to get in through the A2/AD bubble with China and attack targets on their mainland. I think that has some very serious escalation risks.”

Such as strategy would create a no man’s land (or sea in this case) in the region where the two powers could establish a de facto status quo, Gomez said. It would also make conflict less likely without forcing the Unites States to abandon the region. Gomez admits that his plan could effectively create spheres of influence in the region and might not be politically popular, but America’s relative power compared to Beijing is on the wane.

“I think we need to admit to ourselves that the United States is no longer as dominant in East Asia as it sued to be, and reengaging on questions of military deterrence at the expense of these legal and normative concerns would be a more productive long-term discussion,” Gomez said. “I don’t see an easy route to getting China onboard to legal and normative order unless you can cite some sort of military deterrent.”

Dave Majumdar is the defense editor of The National Interest. You can follow him on Twitter @DaveMajumdar.
Image: U.S. Navy"

Cash strapped 1MDB PM Najib selling away Malaysia’s assets but deafening silence from ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ Umno

Taking into account 1MDB’s debts, what’s the figure like for 2016?

 Cash strapped 1MDB PM Najib selling away Malaysia’s assets but deafening silence from ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ Umno

1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Prime Minister Najib Razak says his government is open to Khazanah Nasional Bhd selling its stake in Silterra Malaysia Sdn Bhd to foreign investors but only at the right price.

Just how much of the country’s assets have been sold to foreigners, especially to China?
 
Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama, reporting from Berlin, said the government’s strategic investment arm has a 98 per cent stake in the chip foundry.

No News Is Bad News visitors and readers should read this earlier posting for context: http://victorlim2016.blogspot.my/2016/09/with-1mdb-in-financial-coma-its-time-to.html

1MDB is also reported to have sold to China its IPPs for US$10 billion (RM40 billion), incurring a US$2 billion (RM8 billion loss).

China is also reported to have bought US$4 billion worth of land in Johor, Railway Double Tracking for several US$ billions and Bakun Dam for US$10 billion?

China companies are now believed to be the biggest landowners in Johor’s Iskandar!

Lets also not forget our territorial interests in the South China Sea which the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government has remained suspiciously mum. (Read this for context: http://victorlim2016.blogspot.my/2016/08/malaysia-unusually-meek-over-spratly.html and http://victorlim2016.blogspot.my/2016/09/cina-babi-chinese-pigs-education-not.html)

Why then are the racial and religious bigots so quiet over such mega sales of the country’s assets to a race they openly and freely label as Cina Babi (Chinese Pigs), Balik Tongsan (Go Back To China)?

Where are the champions of Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy) Umno? Have they lost their tongues?

Malaysians! You better be prepared for the worse that is yet to come. With Malaysia’s fast rising federal debt, possibly surpassing RM1 trillion, the economic hard times have yet to peak.

When a government needs to sell its assets and is unable to complete infrastructure and social projects, the time has come for Malaysians to really tighten their belts.

Like what fellow blogger steadyaku-steadyaku-husseinhamid.blogspot.my posted saying this picture is worth a thousand words:

While Najib is trying to sell Silterra to foreign investors, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) expects the slowest trade growth in 2016 since the financial crisis.

World trade will grow more slowly than expected in 2016, expanding by just 1.7%, well below the April forecast of 2.8%, according to the latest WTO estimates.

And, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) continues to paint a rosy picture for Malaysians and the country while Najib continues to sell national assets to bailout the alleged money-laundering-tainted cash-strapped 1MDB.

BNM, please stop insulting the intelligence of Malaysians. You are fooling no one. It is just plain common sense to conclude that if all are rosy, why the need to sell national assets? Why is the Ringgit not strengthening?

Read the following three news reports for the details:

"CASH-STRAPPED NAJIB REGIME NOW EYES SELLING SILTERRA TO FOREIGN INVESTORS

Politics | September 29, 2016 by | 0 Comments


BERLIN – The Malaysian government is open to Khazanah Nasional Bhd selling its stake in Silterra Malaysia Sdn Bhd to foreign investors but only at the right price, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Thursday.

The government’s strategic investment arm has a 98 per cent stake in the chip foundry. Talk of selling either a stake or the entire company has been around since 2008.



Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said attempts to encourage local companies to buy the stake in Silterra have not been fruitful.

“We have given every opportunity to the local partners or local players to try to take over Silterra but they have not been able to come up with the necessary resources to do so. Now we are open to foreign companies,” he told Malaysian media at the end of his three-day official visit to Germany.

“But it is not going to be at any price. It is going to be a price that is acceptable to us and ensure that Silterra’s operations will benefit Malaysia as well,” he said when asked if German wafer fab company X-Fab Silicon Foundries has offered any proposal for the stake.


Najib, who had a bilateral meeting with X-Fab Chief Executive Officer Rudi De Winter during his visit here, neither confirmed nor denied such a proposal.

X-Fab owns a 65 per cent stake in X-Fab Sarawak Sdn Bhd, with the remaining 35 per cent held by the Sarawak state government.

– Bernama"


"WTO expects slowest trade growth in 2016 since financial crisis

(Xinhua)Updated: 2016-09-28 10:01

GENEVA - World trade will grow more slowly than expected in 2016, expanding by just 1.7percent, well below the April forecast of 2.8 percent, according to the latest WTO estimatespublished on Tuesday.

With expected global GDP growth of 2.2 percent in 2016, this year would mark the slowestpace of trade and output growth since the financial crisis of 2009.

The downgrade follows a sharper than expected decline in merchandise trade volumes in thefirst quarter and a smaller than anticipated rebound in the second quarter.

The contraction was driven by slowing GDP and trade growth in developing economies suchas China and Brazil but also in North America, which had the strongest import growth of anyregion in 2014-15 but has decelerated since then.

"The dramatic slowing of trade growth is serious and should serve as a wake-up call. It isparticularly concerning in the context of growing anti-globalization sentiment," said WTODirector-General Roberto Azevedo.

"We need to make sure that this does not translate into misguided policies that could makethe situation much worse, not only from the perspective of trade but also for job creation andeconomic growth and development which are so closely linked to an open trading system,"said Azevedo.

WTO predicted that trade may be picking up in the second half of 2016, although the pace ofexpansion is likely to remain subdued.

The forecast for 2017 has also been revised, with trade now expected to grow between 1.8percent and 3.1 percent, down from 3.6 percent previously.

WTO said its outlook for the remainder of this year and next year is affected by a number ofuncertainties, including financial volatility stemming from changes in monetary policy indeveloped countries, the possibility that growing anti-trade rhetoric will increasingly bereflected in trade policy, and the potential effects of the Brexit vote in Britain, which hasincreased uncertainty about future trading arrangements in Europe, a region where tradegrowth has been relatively strong."

"Bank Negara has RM392.5 billion in international reserves

FMT Reporters

| September 23, 2016

BNM says reserves position sufficient to finance 8.1 months of retained imports and is 1.2 times the short-term external debt.
KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) international reserves amounted to RM392.5 billion (equivalent to US$97.7 billion) as at Sept 15, 2016.

In a statement today, BNM said the reserves position was sufficient to finance 8.1 months of retained imports and is 1.2 times the short-term external debt.

The main components of the international reserves were foreign currency reserves (US$89.7 billion), International Monetary Fund reserves (US$0.8 billion), Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) (US$1.1 billion), gold (US$1.5 billion); and other reserve assets (US$4.6 billion).

Meanwhile, its total assets stand at RM411.166 billion.

The central bank’s assets included gold and foreign exchange and other reserves including SDRs (RM392.490 billion), Malaysian government papers (RM1.643 billion), deposits with financial institutions (RM1.510 billion), loans and advances (RM7.605 billion), land and buildings (RM2.114 billion), and other assets (RM5.804 billion).

Its liabilities comprised of paid-up capital (RM100 million), reserves (RM110.204 billion), currency in circulation (RM92.118 billion), deposits by financial institutions (RM165.513 billion), deposits by the Federal Government (RM10.576 billion), other deposits (RM1.026 billion), Bank Negara papers (RM10.665 billion), allocation of SDR (RM7.522 billion), and other liabilities (RM13.443 billion)."