US, China divide a concern as they have shared economic, security goals: Singapore trade minister
- Minister Chan Chun Sing said Washington and Beijing need to maintain financial stability and security in the Korean peninsula and South China Sea
- Singapore will not take sides in the rivalry, while Asean should see itself as a platform, not battlefield, where US and Chinese companies can safely operate
Speaking during a panel discussion at the Singapore Summit virtual conference, the minister said the US is invested in peace, security and economic prosperity across Asia and will need to continue to work with partners to secure its own interests.
Asean treads fine line as US-China rivalry looms over annual forum
“What worries us is that with reduced interaction between the leadership and the younger generation on both sides, then we might inadvertently have planted the seeds of a future misunderstanding,” said Chan.
He called for greater interaction between the two superpowers to understand “where they need to work together and where they will compete with one another”.
He said the relationship between the two world powers was not just one of competition, as they have a common goal in maintaining the financial stability of global markets, and shared security interests in the Korean peninsula and the South China Sea.
“This is a historical opportunity for China to win friends and build friendships, especially in times of need, when the world is suffering from the global pandemic,” he said.
The trade minister also reiterated Singapore’s long-held position that it would not take sides as the rivalry between the US and China deepens, but added that it was ultimately not a “binary choice”. He said the city state plays to different markets, and would continue to look to add value to its ties with Beijing and Washington separately.
Similarly, Chan said Southeast Asia should not be a battleground for economic or security issues, while responding to a question on the trend of tech giants moving their operations to the region.
“Instead let’s look at Asean as a potential market where we are the integrator where both the US and the Chinese company can operate here with confidence that their products and intellectual property will be protected,” he said, referring to the 10-member bloc.
“We’d like to see ourselves as a connector, as a platform, rather than as a battlefield.”
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During the summit, Chan commented that it was important to “look beyond” the current Covid-19 health crisis and set in place the architecture for the next generation of growth in global trade.
He also said that while global digitisation posed a threat to blue-collar workers whose jobs can be replaced by robots and automation, “the world is realising that the competition is even tougher for the white-collar jobs that can be done over the internet”.
He said Singapore will focus on ICT, financial, medical and precision engineering services as it pivots to new markets. “Today in a Covid world, we will have a combination of both virtual and live experience, and in Singapore we are pioneering a lot of this, what we call ‘hybrid activities’ that combine the physical and the virtual.”
Chan’s comments come as Singapore continues reopening its economy following a two-month partial lockdown that began in April due to a surge of Covid-19 infections. Those measures have helped contain Covid-19 in the island nation with the number of new daily infections decreasing.
The Singapore Summit is supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board, sovereign wealth fund GIC, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and state investment firm Temasek Holdings.
