China’s outgoing envoy hails Singapore’s ‘unwavering commitment’ to Beijing ties

Ambassador Sun Haiyan had reportedly been recalled to Beijing after just 14 months, to become a deputy minister in the International Liaison Department

She praised Singapore’s business community and its Chinese clan associations for serving ‘as the foundation of bilateral relations over the long term’

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Sun Haiyan speaks at her farewell reception in Singapore on July 26. Photo: Facebook

Published: 7:30pm, 28 Jul 2023

Sun Haiyan, China’s outgoing ambassador to Singapore, has hailed the city state for its “unwavering commitment” to bilateral ties ahead of her return to Beijing to serve as a deputy minister.

Speaking at a farewell dinner this week, the envoy also expressed special praise for the republic’s business community and its Chinese clan associations for serving “as the foundation of bilateral relations over the long term”.

The Chinese embassy said some 500 people attended the farewell reception at the Fullerton Bay Hotel on Wednesday. Responding to This Week in Asia’s queries, an embassy official said he did not have information on who Sun’s successor would be.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (second from left) is greeted by Guangdong vice-governor Zhang Xin (left) and China’s ambassador to Singapore Sun Haiyan at the Guangdong airport. Photo: MCI

Singapore’s Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao earlier this week reported that Sun, 51, had been recalled to Beijing after just 14 months, following a promotion to become a deputy minister in the Communist Party’s International Liaison Department.

The newspaper reported that Sun would become the first deputy minister in the mainland’s central foreign affairs system born after 1970, and the department’s first female deputy minister.

Sun is a veteran of the department, having first joined in 1997. She was the head of its First Bureau – which oversees relations with South and Southeast Asian nations – before she was posted to Singapore last year.

The department is under the party’s Central Committee, while the foreign ministry is under the State Council, China’s cabinet.

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