Having returned to office after a 15-year gap, he now finds China the giant kid on the block. Japan is still in the picture, along with South Korea, but the Chinese footprint in Malaysia grew significantly during Mahathir's absence. China’s economy, while slowing, is exerting more gravitational pull; few leaders in the region can afford to ignore that.
(June 20): China is definitely the new Japan. For Mahathir Mohamad, at least.
That’s not because of its demographic challenges or the trade war with Washington, which has evoked comparisons with the US-Japan tussle of the 1980s. Malaysia's prime minister needs China the way he needed Asia’s biggest economy decades ago. In his first spell as his country’s leader, Mahathir dubbed this approach “Look East.”
