KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin today claimed that the previous Cabinet under former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was left in the dark regarding China deals providing kickbacks to bail the corrupted 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) project.

In his tweet today, Khairy said the Cabinet never discussed the matter.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) today published an article alleging that China’s projects in Malaysia including the East Coal Rail Link had funds diverted to rescue the failed 1MDB.

“Explosive allegations that need to be investigated thoroughly. As a former Cabinet member, I can categorically state that Cabinet was never informed that the China deals were linked to bailing out 1MDB. If there is evidence of that happening, it was without Cabinet approval,” he said.

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He added that the Cabinet meeting should also be declassified when Twitter user ‘kan aku dah cakap’ called his statement the best “lie of 2019”.

The US-based WSJ had alleged there were meeting minutes from 2016 revealing that China had offered to help bail 1MDB in return for lucrative infrastructure projects under its One Belt One Road Initiative.

Besides the rail, the Trans Sabah Gas Pipeline project was also part of the deal.

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China had also offered to bug the homes and offices of WSJ journalists stationed in Hong Kong investigating the 1MDB issue to find out where the journalists were obtaining their information.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had said the government will now be studying the China-linked projects far more closely.

“We knew that the price is inflated, but whether there was such a deal, I have to check. I would be interested to have a copy of those minutes by WSJ,” said Lim.

The finance minister also reiterated that two Sabah pipeline projects previously awarded to Chinese firms had been almost fully paid out even though no physical work had been done. These have already been terminated.