Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the National Day Mass Conference on the evening of the evening of the 221st, he gave speeches in Malay , Chinese and English, mentioning the COVID-19 epidemic and the very severe geopolitical and economic situation at home and abroad. He said that China and the United States have differences on many issues, and the recent sharp rise in tensions around Taiwan is just one of them.
According to Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao on the 22nd, just as Singapore emerged from the epidemic, the external environment became chaotic. In his speech, Lee Hsien Loong outlined the road and challenges of the epidemic recovery in Singapore. He said: "The external environment is becoming increasingly unstable, and I feel that the storm is coming and the wind is filling the building. The differences between China and the United States are becoming increasingly deepening, and Taiwan issue is just one of the disputes."
Lee Hsien Loong's speech at the Singapore National Day mass celebration meeting on the evening of the 21st Photo source: The Straits Times quoted from the live video screenshot of the Prime Minister's Office of Singapore
Lee Hsien Loong said that China and the United States have differences on many issues, including the ideology and government system , China's growing influence in the world, as well as many specific issues such as trade disputes, cyber espionage, South China Sea , etc. But what is worrying recently is the sharp escalation of tensions surrounding Taiwan. He said China and the United States must cooperate on urgent global issues such as climate change, epidemics and nuclear non-proliferation, but this is almost impossible due to tensions in the relationship between the two sides, which is bad news for the world. At the same time, Lee Hsien Loong mentioned that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has also made Sino-US relations, as well as China's relations with Australia and Japan, and more geopolitical struggles are expected to occur in the Asia-Pacific region.
In terms of economy, Lee Hsien Loong said that the past few decades have been a "special period", globalization is in full swing, international trade is growing rapidly, China's economy is growing exponentially, and more and more commodities are exported to the world at extremely competitive prices, which has reduced the cost of many products and maintained global prices stable. But now, this era is over. China's growth and exports are slowing and costs are rising. Some countries raise tariffs on each other, and countries are reexamining their supply chains, prioritizing flexibility and self-sufficiency. This means not buying the cheapest things and accepting higher costs. Lee Hsien Loong said all these trends are driving inflation everywhere, including Singapore.
Ge Hongliang, deputy dean of the ASEAN College of Guangxi University for Nationalities, told a reporter from " Global Times " on the 22nd that under normal circumstances, Singapore will have leaders' National Day speeches every year, which is of some significance to the country's domestic and even international public opinion. On the one hand, for Singapore, leaders will explain the major challenges currently facing the country in their speeches; on the other hand, the National Day speech represents Singapore's position or attitude on regional and international issues, including the current competitive situation in major powers.
Ge Hongliang said that Lee Hsien-long's speech showed a relatively worried attitude. Not long ago, Singapore ambassador Chan Qingzhu and future fourth-generation team leader and Vice Prime Minister Wong Xuncai also expressed that he did not want conflict or war. Behind such worries, Lee Hsien Loong hopes that China and the United States can handle their relationship well and explore the development of China-US relations under the new situation and situation. Maybe not just Singapore, but more other countries will have this idea. After all, China-US relations can be said to be the most important group of bilateral relations in the world. At present, maintaining its relative stability is still very prominent.
column editor: Gu Wanquan Text editor: Fang Ying Title picture source: Visual China Picture editor: Shao Jing
Source: Author: Global Times Xin Bin Fan Wei
