Oh for heaven’s sake – let’s not pretend, shall we? China has simply bought itself a stooge in the EU.
Joseph Muscat, then Opposition leader, in China in 2010, meeting China’s leaders and signing an agreement between the Labour Party and China – as though it is normal for states to enter into bilateral agreements with political parties rather than with other states.
And at EUR200 million, which is chicken-feed and small change for an economy that size, it’s really cheap at the price. Of course, China couldn’t just hand over the cash to the Malta Government (well, it could, with this government, but anyway) and say ‘give us your EU veto/a backdoor into the EU’ so instead it ‘bought’ 35% of a technically bankrupt power monopoly with no hope of financial recovery.
And then we get the prime minister telling Bloomberg that he is astonished how China has so much time for Malta. Oh, indeed – how disingenuous of him. He may be from the sticks, but he’s not that naive.
In The Malta Independent today:
PM hails ‘astonishingly close relationship with China’
44 minutes ago – Monday, 07 October 2013, 12:13
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has expressed his astonishment that the China shows Malta “such a great deal of respect and has so much time to devote to us,” given the a-symmetries in size and the considerable distance between the two countries.
In an interview with BloombergBusinessweek, Dr Muscat put China’s new found affinity for Malta down to “historical ties.”
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Sure, historical ties.
It-tnejn itemmghu ir-ross bil-labra.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/06/rather-be-slag-than-slut?CMP=twt_gu
I thought this was a rather appropriate title to go with this announcement
Joey’s historical ties date back almost a millennium.
Kublai Khan’s mother was Maltese, you see.
I suppose Mintoff’s arse-licking antics in China are the ‘historical ties’ that Muscat is referring to.
These aren’t socialists but a bunch of ignorant, greedy people with strong communist tendencies.
After 6 months of a Labour government, Malta has become a country with an unclear identity and a deal-broker which makes Del Boy Trotter seem an honest broker.
Is this man for real? Does he really think that he can fool people by expressing astonishment that “such a great deal of respect and has so much time to devote to” Malta?
No one does anything for nothing. The time will come when China will exact its pound of flesh.
So now he’s an honest broker, is he? That must be why he hooked up with a blacklisted agent for China.
If the Chinese government has no respect for its own people, why does our prime minister imagine it respects the Maltese?
Tal-biki. He’s either a fool or a total short-sighted moron. I cannot think of any other adjectives. Does he really really think they are doing it for US? If he doesn’t, is he so cheap as to sell Malta’s voice in the EU for such a miserly sum?
Again, tal-biki.
Don’t let him fool you as he fooled too many people before March 2013.
That is exactly what he is trying to do. Do you honestly think that he is a fool or a short-sighted moron?
Very wrong. He is a sly, blatant liar communist with a personal agenda.
Nothing is forever and the unfortunate position Joseph put Malta in, is that if he is replaced in 2018, it will be that much more difficult to ‘untie’ the ties with China who, by then would have tightened its proverbial noose.
Kollox bil-hsieb jaghmel l-istilla ta Burmarrad.
I have yet to see a picture of Joseph, sitting, standing, squatting, in which he does not seem totally out of place.
Historical ties?! Why doesn’t he be specific and tell us (and the whole world) when these historical ties occurred? Unbelievable!
On the other hand he may be referring to Mintoff’s visit to China in 1972, immediately after signing the agreement to extend the use of Malta as a military base by an additional 5 years.
Back then China was eager for international recognition, still internally troubled and externally suspect as a result of its flagrant violation of liberties and human rights, not to mention its Communist ideology.
That visit was repaid with the setting up of (notably) the Red China Dock in Marsa and a number of manufacturing plants (chocolate, steel, and possibly others)
Today China is a world economy and Malta is (no thanks to him or his party) an EU member state. JM cannot be so naive as to be ‘astonished’ with China’s ‘disproportionate’ attention to Malta.
Why does he go on Bloomberg TV of all stations to say these things? Does he hope to stir the jealousy of potential ‘suitors’ the way Mintoff tried to play off individual NATO partners in his bid to obtain the highest offer for a foreign military base?
There is no hiding the sense of ‘deja’ vue’ in all this. With his courting of shady characters with a corrupt past to help him clench energy deals, JM is following in Mintoff’s footstepts in the prostitution of Malta ‘par excellence’.
Over the last few years I have witnessed the ruthless and disgusting exploitation of non-democratic sub-Saharan African states by China.
These countries are exploited through ‘secret’ contracts covering and valid for around 99 years signed with African dictators, in return for a token stadium, a tunnel or an airport.
I felt sad for those countries, that their citizens do not have the freedom and the means to speak up and be informed about what is happening.
Little did I ever imagine that the same could happen to Malta. I wrongly thought that Malta was democratic and strong enough to overcome such exploitation, especially through EU membership. But as with Hungary, which had its constitution changed dramatically, non-parliamentary democracy isn’t strong enough in Malta. We are relatively new to it.
The way China latched onto Malta under Labour makes it obvious that they have the sum of the situation here.
I can blame the Maltese for being so short-sighted and stupid, but my revulsion is directed towards the press who allowed themselves to be bought in return for a TV programme, and a social drink or dinner here and there. Or the thrill of a cheap and worthless story about an arlogg tal-lira, which eclipsed the real issues.
I have no respect for the press in Malta – probably the profession was never rooted in the first place. The newspaper tradition was a British and Italian cultural import in the 19th century, and it did not really take root.
This is true treason: a prime minister who serves another country’s interests rather than his own country’s. Isn’t that one of the most serious crimes on the statute books?
Malta’s ambassador to China is Chinese. So is Malta’s trade envoy.
The NP would do well to walk out on this one element alone. The proof is all there this time.
This strikes us to the core. Do we have a core left?
Naive or stupid?
It is not unknown for certain states to buy the veto/vote of other states. That is what Japan did: it bought the veto of landlocked sub-Saharan states on whale fishing.
And wasn’t it in America that States were actually bought for cash?
When, in June, the Prime Minister warned unashamedly he’s prepared to use Malta’s veto to nudge our EU partners on migration, some people thought he’s driven by principle. We can see today, he was only being driven by China.
If he’s being honest, he’s really ignorant.
The title really says it all.