Chinese press reports Malta-China ‘MOU’ as “Chinese aid for Malta” in return for which a “grateful Muscat” will work for China-EU relations
Published:
July 13, 2014 at 12:57am
China’s People’s Daily reports:
Muscat was grateful for China-aided projects in Malta, saying his country as a member of the European Union would work for the further development of bilateral relations as well as the China-EU relations.
Muscat with Chinese premier Li Kequiang
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http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6944809.html
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-07/09/c_133472212.htm
Chinese aid for Malta? This is all making us look like one big joke that owes China everything. Thanks a lost Muscat, you really do know how to be shameless and drag us all down to your level of stupidity.
You may be comfortable passing Malta off as a struggling and poor country that needs aid from China, but the rest of us certainly aren’t.
And what really gets me is this: Muscat never mentioned any of this before he was elected because he know people wouldn’t like it. That is a fact not even he can deny.
It’s a bailout, Edward. A bailout Made in China, wrapped up in the words MOU. Malta Owes You.
MOU does not stand for Malta Owes You. It stands for Muscat Owes You.
Would be interesting to see what happens to the EU’s 1.2 billion in that MOU.
Just wait for a barrage of R&D projects headed by faceless corporations, Ciccio.
Jozef, add to that a number of ‘feasibility studies’, ‘wave and motion studies’ (like one for the Marsamxett breakwater and marina) and the like.
Oh, and a number of studies and initiatives in the energy sector. Like the investment in the inter-connector. What percentage of the inter-connector is now owned by China?
Muscat did mention it before the election.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/128130324/Joseph-Muscat-says-he-signed-an-agreement-with-China-on-Malta-s-behalf-it-Torca-18APR2010
China talked about the services that Malta can offer Chinese interests in the Mediterranean, as well as the scope for collaboration in the energy sector, especially alternative energy sources.
We emphasized that Malta has great potential for Chinese investment and that the Labour Party wishes to see this progress made “illum qabel ghada”, irrespective of who is in government.
(…)
Along the same lines, we held meetings with Minister Wang Jiarui who is responsible for relations with the EU and Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Fu Ying. We also signed an agreement with the central Chinese authorities the objective of which is improving long term relations between the two countries. This agreement provides for reciprocal exchange of information in the economic, industrial, political and social spheres.
Joseph Muscat, Leader of the Opposition, writing in it-Torca on 18th April 2010
Much was not mentioned before the election because there was no plan to reveal.
In just over a year year however, a single mad man’s vision of our new Malta has emerged, a Malta which sells its citizenship to the highest bidder, pawns its economy to China, models its building policy on Singapore with its high risers and is contemplating offshore developments Dubai style. Why on earth should he need a plan when a new decision of this sort can be taken every week of the year?
Exclusive:
Picture of the Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat holding the China-Malta MOU while addressing representatives of ‘selected’ Maltese media in Tienanmen Square
http://www.yell.com/static/image/31c55d23-cc5f-4252-b236-efd6094b46ea_image_jpeg?t=tr/w:550/h:412/m:FitPad
This may come as a surprise to many of you, but Malta has been receiving Chinese aid for developing countries since 1972. Even after we joined the EU, we kept receiving it. Right through the Fenech Adami and the Gonzi administration.
So whose fault is it that we find ourselves grovelling before China in 2014? Not entirely Joseph Muscat’s. Labour’s vilest deeds and actions require a certain mindset. That mindset is the work of many hands, not just Labour’s.
Muscat was the first to sign a formal agreement. He did it in opposition. China’s signatory wasn’t leader of the opposition. He was simply China’s next in line.
And that’s the position Muscat took – he was Malta’s next in line. That agreement made sure his election wasn’t left to chance.
Formal agreement or not, every Chinese “gift” (an accurate translation of the word they use) since 1972 has been given under their scheme for Aid To Developing Countries – from Red China Dock, to the garden in Santa Lucia, to the scholarships for civil servants. The only other EU country that got Chinese aid under this scheme was Romania. And now even they have stopped it.
But the Maltese are a people who would sell their own mothers for cash, so they saw nothing wrong in accepting all this, ghax heqq, it was flus, and then it got a PN spin put on it and it became heqq, investiment barrani.
So let’s not all rush to put the entirety of the blame on Joseph Muscat. He merely went one step further.
J’accuse Labour, certainly, but je also accuse the Nationalist Party’s base Malteseness. A plague on both your Houses.
There’s a yawning gap between accepting a public garden and scholarships, and determinedly selling Malta’s sovereignty when you are not even in power. He called his 2010 agreement with China an agreement between two countries.
Alla hares nidhlu fl-ewropa – remember that?
Muscat sold Malta’s electoral freedom and independence and now says – openly – that he is not accountable to the electorate.
That’s qualitatively different from bread and circuses for the masses, don’t you think?
There’s a yawning gap in China’s hold over the Maltese economy, but the mindset is the same – on both sides.
Malta will still trade its dignity for Chinese cash, and China still has Malta down as a developing country.
I know you’re trying hard to find the distinguishing feature between Labour and the Nationalist Party, but you shouldn’t. NP officials have praised the MOU, because, you see, it brings “investment”.
I hope I’ll be dead long before 2018, so I won’t have to choose between Labour and Gonzi redux.
Rubbish. Selling Malta to China in exchange for being elected is without precedent and cannot now be done by anyone else.
One can always be Taghna Lkoll, and become a de facto poster boy for Labour. That’s what Simon Busuttil has done. By approving this cynical and vile deal, he is effectively putting his stamp of approval on Labour’s policy. He is the soft-spoken version of Labour. His caveats, such as they are, are too weak to make him anything else.
Of course China will make sure it is Joseph Muscat, and not Simon Busuttil, who wins the election in 2018. So the real question from you Nazzjonalisti ta’ Vera to your leader should be this: If it won’t win you the election, then why are you doing it?
What is Simon Busuttil scared of? Being called a racist? Why should he leave the defence of Western Civilisation to that fruitcake Norman Lowell and his hamalli legion?
Look, the truth is we’re on our own. Simon Busuttil won’t stand up for us, the silent minority who are stupid enough to believe in European values.
The trouble with Malta is nothing ever comes to a head. We just carry on. At least if it came to protests and barricades, or at least political crises, we could do something about it. But there is nothing that anyone can do.
We could Twitter bomb Muscat. It won’t change his mind but at least we can let off steam.
The hashtag is #ejja.
And #SaiMizzi. As in: Where is #SaiMizzi?
Gas down ghal gol-Great Wall of China.
Comment of the day.
This Malta- China business…it all started here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA_dZQ9kYH0
Mintoff told Muscat how to handle them and clinch a meeting with the Leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100408/local/labour-leader-meets-chinese-vice-president.301764
The link to the English People’s Daily above, which reports that Muscat was “grateful” actually refers to the MOU (that one meant Muscat Owes You) signed by Muscat in China in 2010 – at that time, Muscat was still Leader of the Opposition.
In signing that MOU, Muscat did not invite the Maltese independent press, whether ‘selected’ or otherwise. The 2010 MOU would have gone unnoticed had it not been this website to report the deal.
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2010/04/bow-and-scrape/
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2010/04/andanother-one/
After the deal was revealed on this website on 9 April 2010, Muscat was caught with his pants down, and found himself where he had to publish something about it – which he did in l-orizzont of the following week – before speculation could grow.
It should be noted as well that the MOU of 2010 was signed with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, whereas the MOU of last week was signed with the Premier Li Keqiang. For some reason, the 2010 MOU seems to have more importance than the one signed last week – maybe because it was long-term, whereas the one signed this week was “medium term”? And yet, no ‘selected’ media has been allowed to see it so far.
So back to the 2010 MOU. If it was for the “long-term,” does anybody know for how long we are stuck with this Muscat-China government?
To the independent media: stop chasing the contract of employment of Sai Mizzi Liang for now, and ask for the 2010 MOU with urgency.
Actually, Muscat wrote about the 2010 MOU in It-Torca of 18 April 2010 (as noted by It-Tezi ta’ Mario), not in L-Orizzont as I said above.
Muscat called his 2010 MOU an agreement between two countries.
The devil, as they say, is in the detail.