Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad was not always opposed to foreign entities buying Proton shares, and even mulled a tie-up with Geely himself, it appears.

Social media users, including Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, dredged up old news reports of Mahathir's openness to such ideas in the past.

One article was a June 2014 Nikkei Asian Review piece titled "Mahathir seeks to turn Malaysia's Proton around with Geely's help".

The other, was an Utusan Malaysia article from June 2005 titled "Mahathir: Volkswagen boleh beli saham Proton" (Mahahtir: Volkswagen can buy Proton shares).

Mahathir on Thursday had reacted negatively to news that Geely had acquired a 49.9 percent stake in Proton.

He said "my child is lost. And soon my country", adding that he feared this signaled a great sell-out of Malaysian assets to foreigners.

Commenting on Mahathir's remarks, Khairy (photo) tweeted "Nothing left to see. Move on", together with screenshots of the Nikkei and Utusan articles.

The Nikkei article said that Mahathir, together with DRB Hi-Com boss Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, had gone to China in April 2014, during which he crafted a partnership deal between Proton and Geely in an effort to revive the national carmaker.

A Bernama news article from May that year, quoted Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak as saying that if the deal was sealed, Proton would be manufacturing cars based on Geely models.

Meanwhile, in the 2005 Utusan article, Mahathir - who was then Proton advisor - was quoted as saying: "We have no problem if Volkswagen buys Proton shares."

He had said this in response to speculation whether Volkswagen would buy into Proton, following a deal between the two in which the Malaysian carmaker would assemble German cars.

The same article then cited German news reports of Volkswagen denying any plans to buy Proton shares.

Proton, which was founded by Mahathir in 1983, received RM1.5 billion in government aid last year on condition that it pursues a turnaround plan and seeks a foreign partner.

Besides acquiring 49.9 percent stake in Proton, Geely would also acquire 51 percent in British sports car brand Group Lotus Plc, which is a fully-owned subsidiary of Proton Holdings. The balance would be acquired by little-known Etika Automobile Sdn Bhd.