KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 -- Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today disagreed that he was sending a message to the US by favouring China in certain matters.

Dr Mahathir said that he simply does not like being force-fed with the Western propaganda, adding that China on the other hand "is a bit more sensitive to our feelings."

"I don't like the old idea of cooking something up in the West and then asking us to accept them.

"China is a bit more sensitive to our feelings," he was reported saying in a Bloomberg interview.

Despite some rough starts with China, notably over the initial cancellation of infrastructure projects worth billions of ringgit in which China has a large stake, Dr Mahathir has in recent days emerged as a strong ally ...