When Trump agreed with Leiking on US-China's 'global responsibility'
INTERVIEW | In interviews with CNN and the Financial Times earlier this month, International Trade and Industry Minister Darell Leiking stressed that the US and China had a "global responsibility," and should be mindful of how their trade relations – whether good or bad – affected others.
This appeared to strike a chord with US President Donald Trump, who at a meeting with China's Vice Premier Liu He on April 4, was asked by a reporter to comment on the remarks from the "Malaysian trade minister."
INTERVIEW | In interviews with CNN and the Financial Times earlier this month, International Trade and Industry Minister Darell Leiking stressed that the US and China had a "global responsibility," and should be mindful of how their trade relations – whether good or bad – affected others.
This appeared to strike a chord with US President Donald Trump, who at a meeting with China's Vice Premier Liu He on April 4, was asked by a reporter to comment on the remarks from the "Malaysian trade minister."
"Well, I think it’s true. I think the word 'global responsibility' – I think those are two nice words," Trump said.
"We do have a responsibility to the world – both countries... This will be a tremendous thing for the world, forget about China, forget about the US.
"This will be a tremendous thing for the world if we get it (a new US-China trade agreement) done. Let’s see what happens."
Leiking elaborated on his remarks during a group interview with Malaysian press last week.
The minister said that during his trade mission to the US earlier this month, he had told those he met about how the superpower's economic success was thanks in part to trade with smaller countries like Malaysia.
"So your success is partly because of us. Similarly with China," he said.
As such he said, the US and China must think about how their financial dealings impact the rest of the world when they decide to either have a trade war or a new trade deal.
"They have to think about everybody that is part and parcel of the (economic) ecosystem.
"They have to start considering all of our issues that will remain unresolved, or will stagnate our economy if they do this or do that," he said.
The minister touched on this when elaborating about what Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad would say at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRFIC) in China this week.
Leiking (above) mentioned no specifics, but said Mahathir will address the issue of transparency in Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) during the forum.
"The exciting bit about our prime minister is he will come up to the stage and just say his piece," he said.
"Sometimes he will shock or disrupt the world. And most of the time, even though (his remarks are) shocking or disruptive to some, they respect (his) ideas."
The BRI is a mega initiative by China to boost trade by investing in roads, rail lines, and sea routes in other countries.
Besides Leiking and Mahathir, other ministers attending the forum from April 25 to 27 are Transport Minister Anthony Loke, Energy, Science, Technology, Environment, and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin, and Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah.
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