"Around us, a storm is gathering." This was the stark assessment Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong gave of the international environment in his National Day message on Aug 8, in which he warned that the limited engagement and deep suspicions between Washington and Beijing could lead to miscalculations or mishaps that could "easily make things much worse".
He reiterated his wish that China and the United States stabilize their relations and maintain channels for smooth communication in his meeting with visiting Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng on Tuesday. It is a wish that the leader of Singapore has also expressed in face-to-face meetings with visiting politicians from Washington. According to a statement of the Singaporean Foreign Ministry, in his meeting with visiting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August, Prime Minister Lee placed special emphasis on "the importance of stable US-China relations to regional peace and security". That happened immediately prior to the latter's visit to Taiwan in defiance of repeated warnings from Beijing.
And it is a message that he has delivered on other occasions as well. During his visit to Australia last month, Lee also expressed worries about the US "decoupling" from China and urged the US government to maneuver "political and economic compromise" with the Chinese side, warning that escalating China-US competition may result in destructive economic consequences, even global instability.
Singaporean leaders have always been clear-eyed about the significance of a generally stable and healthy China-US relationship. Late leader Lee Kuan Yew, for one, was famous for offering great counsel on China-US relations. The present leader of Singapore has seemingly inherited that diplomatic wisdom and tradition in his calls for fence-mending between the world's two largest economies.
Besides his extensive face-to-face communication with leaders of the host country, Han also participated in a series of events, most importantly the 18th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation on Tuesday, which he co-chaired with his Singaporean counterpart. During the meeting, 19 memoranda of understanding and agreements, covering such fields as green development and green finance, e-commerce, public health, innovation cooperation and tourism exchanges, were signed. The special emphasis on green, digital and interconnectivity indicates an impressive new trend in China-Singapore cooperation, and will add fresh vigor to their cooperation.
But in addition to sustaining and expanding the longstanding tradition of friendly cooperation between China and Singapore, which has been a main thread running through and guiding their relations, the critical significance of Han's Singapore visit was the reaffirmation of the two sides' shared commitment to bilateral and regional peace and prosperity, with Han and his hosts highlighting the Asian perspective and wisdom in the handling of regional and in some cases global affairs.
Singapore is a long-time friend of China and a US ally, Prime Minister Lee's advice for China-US relations should be listened to, and taken to heart. As he said in August, staying united is the only way to deal with challenges in an increasingly troubled world.
