Mahathir: US seeks to provoke war in Taiwan

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday accused the United States of trying to provoke a war in Taiwan, and said he expected his Southeast Asian nation's graft-tainted ruling party to hold general elections in the coming months.

Mahathir, a two-time premier long known as a critic of the West and its geopolitics, warned that the US was antagonizing China through the recent visits of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and American lawmakers to Taiwan, which Beijing regards as part of its territory and sees such visits as meddling in its affairs.