By Elishya Perera
SINGAPORE (CWBN)_ Singaporean Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, said that US President-elect Joe Biden ought to look to develop an “overall constructive relationship” with China following “quite a tumultuous ride” over the past few years.
The Prime Minister expressed these views during an interview with Bloomberg Editor-In-Chief, John Micklethwait, at the New Economy Forum.
PM Lee also expressed hopes that under the Biden administration, the World Trade Organisation, would no longer be “deliberately pushed to one side” in the way it has been in the past four years, and pointed out that trade disputes hurt all parties involved. “The more countries avoid doing that, the more it will be credible when they say we believe in multilateral trade, and they believe in win-win development and cooperation with our neighbours,” he said.
Lee has been one of the most vocal leaders calling for the world’s largest economies to avoid any form of confrontation which would force smaller nations like Singapore to pick sides, in terms of trade, technology and much more.
In July this year, during an Atlantic Council Front Page event, the PM insisted that the most important objective of the winner of the US Presidential Election is to stabilize relations with China “because for the rest of Asia we depend on stable US-China relations in order for us to have a secure, predictable environment in which we can make a living and live our lives.”
Singapore was one of the countries, which refused to ban Chinese technology giant Huawei from 5G telecom networks. Instead, the country allowed telecom operators to determine which vendors to choose.
Even though the major telecom operators chose Huawei rivals, Ericsson AB and Nokia Oyj to be their 5G network providers, TPG Telecom, which operates smaller 5G networks in Singapore, selected Huawei as its key vendor.
When inquired if President Trump has done “permanent damage” to the way the United States is viewed in the region, the Prime Minister responded that President Trump’s “America First” approach has changed the perception on how broadly the world’s superpower is interested in maintaining global stability.
“It will take some time I think for America to come back to such a position, and for others to be convinced that it is taking such a position,” Lee said.
He further noted that while the shift in perspective did not start with Trump, however, it has become more evident in the past four years.
On the subject of trade, the Prime Minister said that the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is “a significant step towards reducing trade barriers and facilitating trade between these economies, and also a significant statement that in Asia”. He claimed that the countries in the region “believe in a model of cooperation and win-win trade”, regardless of what happens in the broader world.
In terms of a Covid-19 vaccine, PM Lee said that while larger countries have ensured they’re first in the queue, the World Health Organisation points out, distributing the vaccine to “the places where it will make the most difference to the outbreak” is the best way to get the pandemic under control, he said.
Lee also noted that it was his responsibility to carry the nation through the pandemic-induced crisis before handing it over “in good shape, into good hands, and I hope that will be before too long.”
Edited By Chathushka Perera
