Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong kicks off China visit, set to meet Xi Jinping and speak at Boao Forum
- It’s Lee’s first mainland visit since the pandemic began; in CCTV interview he describes China-Singapore ties as ‘very good’
- Ahead of the trip he said the world must accept that China now plays a bigger role on the global stage
Lee, who landed in the southern Chinese city on Monday afternoon, will also meet China’s new Premier Li Qiang and other high-level Communist Party officials, including Zhao Leji, the new head of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislative body.
World needs ‘give and take’ approach to accept China’s rise: Singapore PM
It is Lee’s first visit to the mainland since Covid-19 broke out, though he met Xi in November last year on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum in Bangkok.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said during a press briefing on Monday that Singapore and China were “friendly neighbours” and important cooperation partners, adding that Beijing hoped to strengthen bilateral ties during Lee’s visit.
The trip – ending on April 1 – follows a visit by Singapore’s foreign minister to Beijing last month. During that trip, Vivian Balakrishnan met his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang and took stock of the “substantive and forward-looking partnership” between the two countries.
During the meeting between the two foreign ministers, they affirmed long-standing relations between their countries and pledged to ramp up cooperation in emerging sectors, such as digital and green economies.
Lee’s visit comes as countries around the world are increasingly torn between the United States and China, and are reluctant to choose sides in the deepening superpower rivalry.
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Last week, ahead of his trip to China, Lee said China’s rise was a “very major change to the global system”, and that countries had to accept that China now played a bigger role on the global stage.
Asked how China’s rise could be accommodated in the global system in an interview with Chinese state broadcaster Central China Television (CCTV) that aired on Friday night, Lee said it required “a lot of statesmanship, a lot of give and take, a lot of cooperation with other countries, and adjustment on both sides”.
Amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington over the recent shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon, the Singapore leader said the two powers had to “take things step by step”, stabilise ties, and gradually build trust.
“I hope that their contacts will be able to build. And that the situation can be stable, and no mishaps will take place. And then gradually you can improve things,” Lee said. “But it will take time. It is not easy and there are political pressures on both sides.”
During the wide-ranging CCTV interview he described Singapore-China relations as “very good”.
“They are broad and encompass many fields, and we have been working together for many years … We have our different perspectives on issues, but we work with one another and we have been able to get very substantive projects going,” he said.
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Lee added that he looked forward to Beijing “continuing to develop good, mutually beneficial relations with the rest of the world, but especially with Asia”.
Leaders from around the world are set to visit China in the coming week for the Boao Forum for Asia conference in Hainan, which begins on Tuesday.
Among others, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is expected to make an official visit to China from March 29, where he will meet Xi and Premier Li, according to local reports.
Mao, the Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, noted it would be Anwar’s first visit to the mainland after taking office and said China looked forward to further promoting Sino-Malaysia ties.
