China News  
SINO DAILY
Malaysian island city in trouble as PM targets China-linked projects
By Sam Reeves
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Sept 5, 2018

Kenyan police raid state-owned Chinese TV
Nairobi (AFP) Sept 5, 2018 - Kenyan police on Wednesday raided the African headquarters of the China Global Television Network, briefly detaining several journalists as part of an ongoing crackdown against illegal immigrants, an employee told AFP.

Cellphone footage of the raid seen by AFP showed armed plainclothes police bundling Chinese staff into vehicles while demanding that reporters of other nationalities produce their passports or accompany them to the police station.

"They had automatic rifles, it was scary," said one foreign reporter at the state-owned television station on condition of anonymity.

Kenyan police chief Joseph Boinnet confirmed the raid on the office in search of illegal immigrants.

"All the foreigners who were arrested at CGTN have been released after their documents were confirmed to be okay," he told Capital FM radio station.

In a statement, the Chinese embassy said it received a call for help from 13 nationals, eight of whom worked for CGTN, while the five others were employed in the same building.

"They stated that they were detained by Kenyan police even though they held legal documents," read the statement.

"Several such events happened recently. The Chinese Embassy (is) expressing its concern to Kenyan side through diplomatic" channels.

CGTN, an international English-language television station, broadcasts across the globe, with major news centres in Nairobi and Washington.

Kenya last month began hunting down and arresting those illegally in the country after holding a 60-day exercise in which every foreigner was required to revalidate their permits -- a laborious process that can take up to eight hours.

Last week the interior ministry released a hotline number for members of the public to report illegal immigrants.

"It is extremely worrying that citizens are being encouraged to call a hotline to report cases of suspected undocumented migrants. This approach is likely to ignite xenophobia against foreign workers, refugees and asylum seekers," Amnesty International's regional deputy director Seif Magango said in a statement on Saturday.

China and Kenya maintain strong relations, with Beijing funding numerous infrastructure projects in the country.

China financed 90 percent of a $3.2-billion (2.8-billion-euro) railway linking Nairobi to the coastal city of Mombasa.

President Uhuru Kenyatta -- attending a two-day China-Africa forum in Beijing -- is expected to sign a deal for the financing of the second phase of the railway, which will link the Rift Valley town of Naivasha to Kisumu near the Ugandan border, costing a further $3.5 billion.

The project has increased concerns in Kenya over mounting debt to China.

An ambitious $100 billion island city being built off Malaysia has found itself in troubled waters as the new government takes aim at the development, the latest in a series of China-linked megaprojects started under the scandal-plagued ex-premier to come under attack.

Forest City's futuristic high-rises and waterfront villas are under construction on four man-made islands in southern Malaysia, just an hour from the affluent city-state of Singapore.

The project, which is meant to house up to 700,000 people once finished in 2035, is being developed by Hong Kong-listed real estate giant Country Garden and a firm partly owned by a powerful Malaysian sultan.

It has been aimed at mainland Chinese investors as an alternative to pricier property in Singapore, with reports saying Chinese buyers have snapped up about two-thirds of units already sold before construction is finished.

But the development, which boasts international schools, shopping malls, hotels and even an immigration centre, was troubled from the start.

A clampdown on capital outflows from China hit demand, while it became a lightning rod for public anger at growing Chinese influence in Malaysia under the government of Najib Razak.

Environmentalists have also warned that dumping sand to reclaim land for the city could destroy marine life.

Now Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has hit out at foreigners buying apartments at the vast development, which is threatening to add to a glut of new residential property in southern Malaysia.

Malaysians are unlikely to buy or stay there due to high prices and its relatively remote location, while foreigners do not automatically get long-stay visas by buying a property.

- 'Built for foreigners' -

With the shock defeat of Najib's government in May and the election of Mahathir, who has long railed against the explosion of Chinese investment in Malaysia, speculation has intensified that Forest City could become a white elephant.

Mahathir, 93, has already shelved $22 billion of Chinese-financed projects struck under the former government during a visit last month to Beijing following criticism the deals were unfavourable to Malaysia, and now he has trained his sights on Forest City.

Last week, he made some of his strongest comments yet on the development, saying he objected to the project because it was "built for foreigners, not built for Malaysians. Most Malaysians are unable to buy those flats."

He added that Forest City "cannot be sold to foreigners... We are not going to give visas for people to come and live here."

His nationalist rhetoric was not in line with Malaysia's laws -- it is legal for foreigners to buy houses and apartments in Malaysia -- and his office later clarified that he only meant purchasing property does not automatically guarantee residency for a foreigner.

But observers said Mahathir was intending to undermine a project he has long detested. A subsequent announcement that the government was establishing a committee to review the terms agreed on to set up the development and foreign ownership there only added to the sense authorities may be trying to put a halt to it.

It is not yet clear what the committee might recommend. Analysts said the worst case scenario in the short term could be the state government in Johor, where the project is based, raising the minimum price for foreigners buying property or increasing levies.

Yeah Kim Leng, a professor of economics at Malaysia's Sunway University Business School, said investors would be deterred and predicted the developer might have to delay or scale back the project.

"Perhaps they will put it on hold, or aim for something smaller," he told AFP.

Malaysian property consultant Samuel Tan Wee Cheng meanwhile warned against turning "the project into a white elephant", the Star newspaper reported.

Only a fraction of work has been completed on the development and only a small number of people, mainly staff, are living there, according to reports.

- Chinese jitters -

During Najib's nine-year rule, Chinese investment into Malaysia surged but hastily struck deals fuelled suspicion that the leader was seeking help to pay off debts from a massive financial scandal.

While Forest City is a private project, it was perceived by many in Malaysia as another example of unwelcome mainland Chinese influence and there were fears it could become an enclave for wealthy Chinese.

In reality, however, analysts say it is unclear who will inhabit the development, particularly as foreigners must apply for long-stay visas through a separate programme.

With one-bedroom apartments being offered for about $170,000, the prices are out of reach for most Malaysians.

Despite its troubles, Forest City has remained upbeat. A spokesman pointed out that of 20,000 properties launched by the end of last year, 18,000 have been sold, and stressed the development has brought investment and jobs to Malaysia.


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SINO DAILY
Chinese bridge pushes Maldives deeper in debt: opposition
Colombo (AFP) Aug 31, 2018
The Maldives opposition said Friday that President Abdulla Yameen had pushed the Indian Ocean nation deeper into a Chinese "debt trap" with a new $200 million bridge opened just ahead of the country's election. Yameen commissioned the bridge with a Chinese fireworks display late Thursday night amid his campaign for the controversial September 23 vote, ahead of which he has jailed or forced into exile all of his main opponents. The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said the 1.4 kilometr ... read more

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