<p>Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told Chinese leaders last week that his country cannot afford to spend money on Beijing-backed infrastructure projects that had been planned under former Prime Minister Najib Razak. He announced the cancellation Tuesday after returning from a 5-day trip to China.</p>
<p>The canceled projects &#8211; a $20 billion railway line and two energy pipelines &#8211; were a part of Chinese President Xi Jinping&#8217;s ;Belt and Road initiative. ;</p>
<p>Malaysia is not ;opposed to Chinese companies, said Mahathir, but it needs to cut its debt burden before it can afford projects of this scale. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;It is all about borrowing too much money which we cannot afford, we cannot repay&#8230;So we must find a way to exit these projects and at the lowest cost possible.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Roughly 20% of the project had already been completed, and politician Dakut Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong insists it will cost Malaysia more to cancel the project than it will to finish it. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;It means that there will be no economic growth, job opportunities created, and no economic spillover that could be enjoyed from the project,&rdquo; argues Wee. &ldquo;Those living in the East Coast will be deprived of development and will continue to be sidelined compared with their counterparts in the West Coast.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Wee, who represents Ayer Hitam in the Malaysian Parliament, worries the compensation payout after the cancellation will cost the federal government billions.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Mahathir&rsquo;s government is investigating claims that funds for the Chinese projects were used to pay debt owned by state investment fund 1MDB.</p>
<p>Mahathir, who was elected in May, has long criticized China&rsquo;s high-profile projects in Malaysia as well as its aggressive territorial claims in the South China Sea. &#8220;We do not want a situation where there is a new version of colonialism happening because poor countries are unable to compete with rich countries in terms of just open, free trade.&#8221;</p>
<p>When asked about the Prime Minister&rsquo;s comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said it is &ldquo;unavoidable for some problems and differences of opinion to emerge as two countries cooperate together.&rdquo;</p>
<p><em>Chinese accounts of Mahathir&rsquo;s visit did not mention the infrastructure deals.</em></p>