Singapore and Vietnam key stops for China’s Wang Yi on latest Asian friendship tour

The visit has been described as a counterbalancing effort against US moves to woo its rival’s neighbours

Post-pandemic economic recovery and help for latest Vietnamese battle against the virus are likely to be high on the agenda

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Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan (left) with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in March, during their meeting in the southeastern Chinese city of Nanping. Photo: AP

Published: 8:00am, 11 Sep 2021Updated: 4:15pm, 11 Sep 2021

Beijing is looking to boost relations with its Southeast Asian neighbours with Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s second tour of the region this year, starting with a three-day visit to Vietnam on Friday.

It is the latest in a counterbalancing effort with the US and follows hard on the heels of US Vice-President Kamala Harris’ visit to Asia.

Wang is the latest senior Chinese official to visit Vietnam since April and is expected to meet his counterpart Bui Thanh Son in Hanoi before co-chairing a meeting of the China-Vietnam steering committee for bilateral cooperation – an inter-government mechanism – with Vietnamese deputy premier Pham Binh Minh, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

Wang will then head to Cambodia for the inauguration of the US$160 million China-sponsored Morodok Techo National Stadium, followed by a visit to Singapore. After that, he will fly to Seoul on Tuesday for talks with his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong and President Moon Jae-in.

The latest Asian tour by China’s top diplomat comes only three weeks after Harris called out Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea during her visit to Singapore and Vietnam, saying the Asian power continued “to undermine the rules-based order and threaten the sovereignty of nations”. Harris also reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to the region, which was largely ignored by the administration of former US president Donald Trump.

Xu Liping, a senior research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, noted that Wang’s trips to Vietnam and Singapore could signify that Beijing was seeking to counterbalance the US’ influence in the region after a series of high-level visits by American officials.