China is known as the "infrastructure team", and any infrastructure team is a younger brother in front of ChinaThe well-connected transportation network not only makes it easier for domestic residents to get around, but also benefits the logistics industry.
Today's China's infrastructure has been looking at the world, and it has blossomed everywhere since 2005. For example, Kenya's Mombasa-Nairobi Railway, Ethiopia's Djibouti Railway and Indonesia's Jakarta-Bandung Highway and so on.
With the beginning of the "Belt and Road" layout, China's infrastructure teams are all over the world, all of which are win-win projects, but some unsightly countries would rather lose their national interests than obstruct constructionFor example, in Malaysia in 2018, they unilaterally tore up the contract, refused to pay liquidated damages, and finally shamelessly sought help from Japan, what was the result waiting for them?
Malaysia is located in the southeast of Asia and is a well-known country in Southeast Asia. In terms of economic development alone, it was also at the forefront of Asia.
Due to several economic crises and endless political internal friction,Today's Malaysia is struggling to develop, and domestic economic problems are frequent, and it is no longer what it used to be.
The so-called if you want to get rich first to build roads, even though the country has good mineral reserves, but the lack of transportation channels will inhibit economic development. So as early as 2014, Malaysia had the idea of building a railway.
After the public bidding of the project, China is undoubtedly the target of Malaysia's affectionAs a result, the two sides signed a cooperation agreement on the East Coast Railway Project in Malaysia in 2016, with a total cost of 106.9 billion yuan and a total mileage of about 688 kilometers.
After the project contract was signed, the Chinese infrastructure team moved into Malaysia to start construction, but encountered many obstacles in the process, such as the obstruction of the Malaysian indigenous people. As a multi-ethnic country,The indigenous people were the first people to live here, and the construction of the railway would inevitably occupy natural vegetation such as mountain trees, which was opposed by the indigenous people.
However, at that time, the Malaysian side had a tough attitude, and the vast majority of residents also felt that it was a good thing for the future, so even if there was a little friction, it would not hinder the overall situation.
Two years later, in 2018, the real change occurred. Just a year before China and Malaysia signed the East Rail project contract, Najib Razak, then prime minister of Malaysia, was exposed to a corruption scandal, causing an uproar in China。In order to reduce the political influence, it is necessary to make some political measures that are beneficial to the people, so the China-Malaysia East Rail project was successfully launched.
However, all this did not save much face for Najib, and in 2018, Najib was defeated, and the 93-year-old Mahathir returned to power.
Speaking of Mahathir, this person is a big man in Malaysia, before that, he served as the prime minister for more than 20 years, and is known as the "father of modernization" just because there is no good way to do it during the economic crisisHowever, he has not given up the idea of entering politics, and has been secretly accumulating strength, and when the time comes, he will take up the whip of power again.
Najib's corruption scandal gave him the opportunity to rise to power in 2018. To put it bluntly, this election is the result of political struggle, and whether Najib is really suspected of corruption is all a one-sided word of politiciansOf course, since Mahathir Mohamad is holding high the banner of anti-corruption, whether Najib is corrupt or not, he will deny the relevant decisions of the previous session, and the China-Malaysia East Railway Project is one of them.
So Mahathir unilaterally and rudely tore up the East Rail contract and forcibly ordered the workers to stop work, knowing that the project had been completed by more than 10% at that time, in addition to the project deposit at the beginning of the project, there was also a part of the funds advanced by China, and the loss of the Chinese side was huge when the work was suddenly stopped.
After fruitless discussions, China also saw Mahathir's determination and stopped insisting on it, but the contract clearly stated that the Malaysian side would pay 36.1 billion yuan in liquidated damages to the Chinese side in case of breach of contract.
This is also reasonable, but Mahathir Mohamad refused to payHe also said that China has also signed unequal treaties in modern times, and the East Rail project is unequal, so the Malaysian side does not like to repay.
How can there be such a good thing in the world, you can just find a reason not to pay back the money you owe people? The Chinese side made it clear that the suspension of work is okay, and the liquidated damages must be repaid within a period of 90 days, and if they refuse to repay, they will be automatically converted into government bonds, and the pressure will be even greater at that time.
At this point, Malaysia's credit has completely collapsed, and the world is shocked to see this sceneBut are the consequences Malaysia can afford?
You must know that at that time, Malaysia's ** exports to China amounted to more than 200 billionAccounting for about 13% of GDP, once China exports to Malaysia, the consequences of sanctions are unbearable.
However, Mahathir did not seem to care about this, in order to continue the East Rail project, he actually approached Japan to seek cooperation, but the confident Mahathir did not get the desired result, and Japan refused to take over the East Rail project.
After receiving the reply, not only Mahathir was shocked, but the whole world was shocked, Japan, a country that forgets its interests, does it have money to make? Are they funny?
It's not that Japanese people don't want to make this money, it's that they can't afford it, and there are two reasons why they can't afford it. First, Japan is an untrustworthy country, but such a country wants others to be trustworthyHowever, Malaysia's credibility has been discredited on the East Rail project, and the Japanese do not dare to take risks.
Second, even if Japan is willing to take the risk of taking over the East Rail project, their budget can only be higher than China's, not lower than China's, because China is the world's only industrial country with a full industrial chainAnd the labor force is abundant, which makes the cost of China low, ** can be accepted on the premise of profit.
The island country of Japan itself is a resource-poor country, with insufficient industrial chains and high labor costs, and the overall budget can only be higher. Therefore, China's project budget is too high, and Japan's ** is even more unacceptable.
After going around in a big circle, Mahathir walked into a dead end, and the abacus beads fell to the ground, but the East Rail project is beneficial to the country and the people, and the expectations of the domestic people are very highIf not, his approval rating at home will be greatly reduced, after all, there are still many people who covet the prime minister's throne.
Helpless, Mahathir Mohamad could only be cheeky to find China, hoping to resume cooperation on the East Rail project. According to common sense, China will inevitably raise its first or ask for more benefitsHowever, the eastern powers with the wisdom of a great power did not, China is interested in the "One Belt, One Road" global strategy, not Malaysia, so at Mahathir's repeated requests, China reduced the budget to 71.2 billion, and the total mileage was reduced by 40 kilometers.
In 2019, the East Rail project was launched for the second time, and the project, which was supposed to be delivered in 2024, had to be postponed for two years due to Mahathir's absurd move.
The wisdom of the great powers and the selfishness of politicians are on full display, thanks to Mahathir MohamadOtherwise, Malaysia's economy will be even worse.