SINGAPORE - While Singapore’s relations with its immediate neighbours Malaysia and Indonesia are stable and encouraging, the situation further afield has become troubling and even dangerous.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said this in Parliament on Wednesday as he outlined three major geopolitical tensions that make the current global situation graver than what Singapore has faced in a long time.
Singaporeans need to realise the gravity of the situation, he said. “We are facing not just one storm, but several.”
United States-China tensions
There is deep mutual suspicion and fundamental distrust between the two superpowers that will not improve anytime soon, said Mr Lee.
“Even if the two powers avoid a direct conflict... enduring enmity and bad relations between them will be very costly for both, and will mean big trouble for the rest of the world,” he added.
While Democrats and Republicans in the US disagree on almost everything, they are united on China. The prevailing view is that efforts to work out a cooperative relationship with China have failed, and that China’s growing strength and assertiveness is becoming a grave threat to US interests and values.
Therefore, their view is that the US must go for “extreme competition” with China over technology including semiconductor chips, quantum technology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and green technologies, he said.
Negative perceptions of China are prevalent among the US population too, said Mr Lee, citing the latest Pew survey that found that more than 80 per cent of adults in the US have an unfavourable view of China, while nearly 40 per cent would describe China as an enemy of the US rather than as a competitor or partner.
He said Chinese public perception of the US has deteriorated. China’s leaders have become convinced that the US is seeking to “contain, encircle and suppress” China, he said, quoting Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“(The Chinese) say the East is rising and the West is declining, and they think the time has come for China to take its rightful place in the world,” he said.
Mr Lee added that they consider issues such as Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet to be China’s domestic matters that affect its security and integrity, and see no room for discussion or compromise on these issues.
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2023-04-19 08:20:00Z
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