Malaysia May Cancel Two Major Belt & Road Projects

On Tuesday, August 21, Malaysian president Mahathir Mohamad concluded his first visit in Beijing. During his 5-day visit, Mohamad re-negotiated with China for some $22 billion U.S. dollar infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (also known as the One Belt One Road (OBOR) Initiative), in an effort to free Malaysia from their national debt crisis. Unlike his Beijing-friendly precursor, Mahathir is attempting to cancel two major China-backed infrastructure projects already in agreement with Beijing. – Weiting Li

August 23, 2018

Malaysian election possibly thwarts China’s One Belt One Road progress

As of May 29, following criticism over the recent years that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s administration had allowed Beijing too much influence in agreeing to China’s One Belt One Road Initiative (BRI) projects, Mahathir Mohamad of Pakatan Harapan, an opposition party, won the early May election in a huge upset. – Adriana Ray