Singapore’s Lee urges China to ‘recalibrate’ for global good
- Speaking at World Economic Forum, PM says Beijing should provide ‘more global public goods’ to address international issues
- He presses US and China to resolve tensions, warning of a ‘twilight struggle’ if they don’t
By providing what he termed “more global public goods” – whether for security, trade or climate change reasons – China’s growing influence would then be accepted internationally, Lee said, and Beijing would gain legitimacy as it benefits other countries rather than acting “at the expense” of those countries.
Lee said it would be a “difficult adjustment” for the United States to accept this more powerful version of China in the world, although he added that he thought China was still not as powerful as the US in terms of technological and military might. Beijing is, though, a “significant other party on the international landscape and potentially a challenger” to the US, he said.
Calling the combative US-China relationship the “most worrying trend” in the world, Lee said the struggle for power between the two would continue well into the future, and he urged both countries to develop a constructive relationship.
“China is not going to collapse the way the Soviet Union did,” he said. “You have to develop a constructive relationship. You will compete, you will disagree – even very strongly, maybe on human rights issues – but you also have other areas where you do have to work together.”
