US-China outlook ‘worrying’ amidst tension in Taiwan: PM Lee

This is amidst the growing tensions between the markets.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the “most dangerous flashpoint” is Taiwan amidst the latter’s growing conflict with China, which has diplomatic relations with Singapore.

In a speech, Lee was talking about the deteriorating public perception of the Chinese to the US. He discussed the political tensions between the Western country and the mainland.

“They believe that Washington wants to hold back China’s growth and weaken the Communist Party of China’s hold on power. They say the East is rising and the West is declining, and they think the time has come for China to take its rightful place in the world,” said Lee.

“They consider issues like Hongkong, Xinjiang, and Tibet to be China’s domestic matters, vitally affecting its security and integrity, on which they see no room for discussion or compromise,” he added.

Lee said Singapore considers China as a good friend and Taiwan as an old friend.

With Singapore adopting the “One China” policy, Lee said they continue to support the peaceful development of cross-strait relations. 

“China considers Taiwan as the most important issue, and the “One China” principle to be the reddest of its red lines. But in the West, an alternative narrative is gaining currency: that the problem in cross-strait relations is a broader ideological issue of democracy versus autocracy,” said Lee.

“This is even though most countries, including most Western countries, have officially adopted ‘One China’ policies. This difference of views is very worrying,” he added.

Despite the view that US-China relations will not improve, Lee said they will continue to hope that “relations between US and China do not get worse.”