‘No money’ claim by American commentator exposes his ignorance, says Anwar

PUTRAJAYA: The American political commentator who dismissed the value of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to South-East Asia only managed to expose his ignorance, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“This shows a trapped imperialist and colonialist mentality. Certainly, he has no understanding of Asia and Asean, including our latest developments,” the Prime Minister told reporters after attending the Finance Ministry’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house here on Friday (April 18).

He was referring to comments made by conservative political commentator Bill O’Reilly, who claimed that “Malays aren’t gonna buy your stuff as they don’t have the money.”

His comments drew criticism from Malaysians who accused him of being uninformed.

Anwar added that such ignorant comments would further fuel xenophobia.

Xi’s visit was part of the Chinese President’s three-nation tour of South-East Asia, which included Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia.

During his visit here, Malaysia and China signed 31 memoranda of understanding on broad-ranging matters.