S'pore needs to work extra hard to maintain valuable China ties: SM Lee

Amid global uncertainty, countries must be friends with all sides to build win-win links

- Tan Dawn Wei

SHANGHAI - There is anxiety on both sides of the US-China divide as a new American president gets ready to take over the White House, according to Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who had made recent visits to the two countries.

US businesses are watching to see what the Trump administration will do with China, while Chinese leaders want to maintain relations on an even keel, even as it deals with an ailing economy that will take some time to fix.

Singapore's relationship with China has, therefore, become especially valuable in such uncertain times, and the city-state needs to work "extra hard" to maintain those ties, SM Lee told Singapore journalists as he wrapped up his six-day official visit to China on Nov 29.

That is also the reason for his frequent trips to China, he said. In his 20 years as Singapore's prime minister, SM Lee visited China 14 times, making him one of the most frequent visiting foreign leaders.

His remarks seem particularly pertinent in a week when President-elect Donald Trump declared extra 10 per cent and 25 per cent tariffs for China, Canada and Mexico goods, sparking fears of an imminent trade war.

Analysts have warned that Beijing could retaliate with tariffs of its own on a wide range of US products, disrupting American supply chains and squeezing US businesses.

The global strategic situation is tense, said SM Lee, and Singapore, too, will have to see what the new US administration's policies are towards China.

"We know what their basic attitudes are, and the basic contradictions between the US and China remain... Therefore, in this troubled environment, we want to be friends with all sides and to have mutually beneficial relations with all sides," he said in Shanghai, the third and final leg of his tour.