Prime Minister Dr Mahathir has described Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng using the Chinese language in his official statements as a small mistake.

“It's a minor mistake, I don't want to make it into an issue. Sometimes, we make mistakes. For the Chinese audience, he will issue (statements) in Chinese that's all,” he told a press conference in Petaling Jaya this evening.

However, the premier did not elaborate how Lim's action could be construed as a mistake when he also said the minister would issue Chinese language statements to the Chinese audience.

Mahathir's remark comes in the wake of Lim's explanation that official statements are in the national language and translated into English and Chinese when there are technical terms involved.

The DAP leader also said that he would continue to use other languages for his social media accounts.

On June 21, Lim issued a tri-lingual statement on the TRX bailout, leading the Friends of BN Facebook to question the need for a Chinese language version.

Responding to this on Facebook, the minister yesterday posted a Chinese language statement, which drew flak from those who could not understand the language.

[More to follow]