On March 30, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who was visiting the United States, attended the Association on Foreign Relations, a think tank in the United States, and when talking about Sino-US relations, Lee Hsien Loong mainly expressed four views. First, the Russian-Ukrainian crisis has indeed undermined the existing norms of international relations and the system of cooperation, while also exacerbating tensions in Sino-US relations. Second, the tension and friction in Sino-US relations in the Asia-Pacific region may trigger new hotspot issues, which is a disaster for both China and the United States and a huge disaster for the Asia-Pacific region. Third, as the world's second largest economy and a super-large country with a population of 1.4 billion, it is both unrealistic and impossible for the United States and other countries to kick China out of the international system. Fourth, Lee Hsien Loong once again reiterated his consistent position that Singapore and ASEAN are not willing to become "outposts" in the game process between China and the United States, and are willing to be ambassadors and intermediaries in Sino-US exchanges.
The four views expressed by Lee Hsien Loong when he joined the Association on Foreign Relations, a US think tank, talked about the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and Sino-US relations have profound meanings behind them. First, Lee Hsien Loong said that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis has undermined international relations, undermined the cooperation system, and intensified tensions in Sino-US relations. This sentence is still reasonable and in line with the current basic situation, because the Russian-Ukrainian crisis is a conflict between two sovereign countries, which has indeed broken the status quo and situation after the end of the Cold War. However, this conflict between Russia and Ukraine is very realistic to analyze from the chinese side's position, because the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has its complex historical latitude and longitude. The security of one country cannot be at the expense of the security of another country, the security of a region cannot be achieved by means of military confrontation, Ukraine's sovereignty should be respected, and Russia's legitimate demands should be met.
However, China's objective position is not liked by the United States, so the United States has gathered Western countries and constantly put pressure on China, believing that China supports Russia, which has led to the challenge of the rules of the international order now dominated by the United States, and then constantly smeared and poured dirty water on China on the Russian-Ukrainian issue. Lee Hsien Loong pointed out that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis was originally a matter of the European continent, and as a result, China, which was far away in Asia, was also implicated. While using NATO and the European Union to suppress Russia, on the other hand, it is trying to pull China into the muddy waters of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and finally benefit from itself. This is what Lee Hsien Loong said, the Russian-Ukrainian crisis has destroyed the international cooperation system, Russia has been eliminated by various international organizations led by the United States, but China, which has no direct relationship with this, has been involved in this war by the United States on trumped-up charges. As a result, the two countries have made accusations between China and the United States and intensified the tension between the two countries.
Second, Lee Hsien Loong said that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis exposed the tension between Russia and the United States, stemming from Russia's pursuit of its own security interests and opposition to the eastward expansion of NATO under the leadership of the United States, and the tension in Sino-US relations may be further stimulated. On hot issues in the Asia-Pacific region, such as the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, countries such as the United States and Japan, as well as the Asian military blocs created by the United States, have also frequently wanted to emulate the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and let China get involved in a protracted war of attrition by provoking a "proxy" war, and ultimately block China's rise.
Once there is a firefight caused by Sino-US friction and a geopolitical crisis, for Lee Hsien Loong, this is not willing to see. Because China is different from Russia, China is the second largest economy, and the size of the economy is very important for global development. Especially under the blow of the new crown epidemic, it has become the engine of global economic recovery, if China and the United States fight hard, it will eventually lead to a lose-lose situation, and it will cause a global political and economic recession. Therefore, Lee Hsien Loong warned the Americans not to do anything harmful to others and to themselves in Sino-US relations.
Third, it is unrealistic and impossible for the United States to "expel China from the international system." Comrade Deng Xiaoping once said, "If China does not develop one day, then one day it will be expelled from the ball." This sentence refers to China's own willingness to close off the country and isolate itself from the world, and only if China voluntarily does it not be compatible with the international system. But when China develops, when China becomes strong, and China has become a pivotal and even decisive force in the global political economy, not any country that wants to "expel China" can do it.
Fourth, Singapore and ASEAN will not become the "outpost" of the Sino-US game, let alone become the stage of the great power game. Lee Hsien Loong made it very clear that the two great powers of China and the United States are a decisive battle between two giants, and the elephant fights and the lawn suffers. As a small country, As a garden country, Singapore itself has gained its current status through the process of globalization and the development of China and the United States. To let such a country, which is not marked on the map, choose a side between China and the United States is undoubtedly to put this country to death. So Lee Hsien Loong has been stressing that Singapore will not take sides and, although politically inclined to the United States, is still willing to maintain good relations with China economically.
As a leader in ASEAN, Lee Hsien Loong once again stressed that ASEAN will not take sides. Because an open, inclusive and free Asia-Pacific system is good for all Asian countries, ASEAN, as an important regional force in the Asia-Pacific region, has the responsibility and obligation to maintain this hard-won peace situation. Everyone knows very well what the Americans want to do in the Asia-Pacific region, and there is no doubt that they are trying to win over more people and stir up trouble against China. But China is no longer the China of the past, it is not something that can be dealt with if you want to, with the size of the world's second-largest economy and the size of 1.4 billion people, this country can not be ignored, especially in ASEAN, which has a deeper economic relationship with China
How much of a role Lee Hsien Loong's statement can play, there is still a question mark. Lee Hsien Loong feels that the game between China and the United States is no longer the era of Lee Kuan Yew, and now China and the United States are a moment of mutual cooperation and mutual need. In the Lee Kuan Yew era, China was in a state of poverty and weakness, and for such a China, the United States only regarded it as a "fat sheep", so Sino-US relations could get along calmly. As one of the four Asian tigers, Singapore, as a model of modernization, has been valued by China, and the United States also urgently needs to understand the mentality and thinking of Chinese through Singapore, a country with Chinese as the main body.
It is precisely in the absence of the strength of China and the United States that Singapore has played the role of mediator and spokesman between China and the United States, which has also enabled Singapore, as a garden country with bullets, to stand tall in the world and become a pearl in the world. In the lee hsien loong era, the national strength of China and the United States is getting closer and closer, and the friction and differences between China and the United States are also increasing, and the fierce game between the major powers makes Lee Hsien Loong feel that with Singapore's current size, it is becoming more and more difficult to navigate between China and the United States. Therefore, in his speech at the Foreign Relations Association, Lee Hsien Loong first stressed that he is not a "whisperer" in China, and in short, Singapore is not a good word for China.
Lee Hsien Loong has deeply felt that singapore and ASEAN have less and less room for strategic maneuver in the game between China and the United States. But one thing that is still positive for Singapore, ASEAN, asia-pacific, and China and the United States is to remain neutral. As Lee Hsien Loong said, neither Singapore nor ASEAN wants to offend, after all, one is the world's first, one is the world's second, and the other has troops in other ASEAN countries, but these ASEAN countries are neighbors with China. This intricate and intertwined relationship of interests has made It possible for Singapore and ASEAN to adopt the most realistic policy, that is, neutrality.
In general, Lee Hsien Loong is quite right about one point, Singapore and ASEAN cannot become the stage for the game between the two major powers of China and the United States. Through this Russian-Ukrainian crisis, Singapore and ASEAN can better appreciate Lee Hsien Loong's good intentions.