Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Thursday that his country will make full use of the technology made available by Huawei in spite of the U.S. ban on the Chinese tech giant.
When asked about whether Malaysia will follow some countries to shun the Chinese company at the 25th International Conference on the Future of Asia held in Tokyo, Mahathir said as Huawei's research capability is "far bigger than the whole of Malaysia's research capability," Malaysia will try to "make use of their technology as much as possible."
The 93-year-old statesman said China has excelled in scientific research and the United States may not win every race with China.
"U.S. had good capabilities to do research and development in the past. They must accept that that capability can also be found in the East," he said.
"But if you want to have a situation in which you are always ahead, (and) if you are not ahead, I will ban you; I will send warships to your country; that is not competition; that is threatening people. That is not the approach we should use," Mahathir said.
The prime minister said the United States prospered because their companies have taken advantage of the low cost in less developed countries to produce components and parts for U.S. products so as to stay competitive.
Asian countries like China, South Korea and Japan, spend much money on research and have earned themselves edges in many fields over the West, he pointed out.
"Today the East has learned all about research and development, so it is no longer a question of copying products from the West," he said. "Their research enabled them to produce even better products." Enditem
