【Direct News Press】
On April 14, Singapore's ruling authorities finalized the fourth generation of its leaders, the current Finance Minister, Wong Hon Chauy. On April 16, Huang Xuncai left for the United States, which attracted attention from the outside world. During this trip to the United States, Huang Xuncai commented on Sino-US relations. Originally from Hainan, China, huang Xuncai, who has visited China many times after entering politics, will he continue Lee Hsien Loong's "diplomatic balancing technique" in the future and handle relations with China and the United States?
Originally from Hainan, the "grassroots" successor who loves to play guitar
Originally from Hainan, China, Huang Xuncai was born in December 1972 to an ordinary family in the Marim Parade district of eastern Singapore. Influenced by his parents, he likes to read, play guitar, and loves dogs, and his tags on instagram are: bookworm, guitarist, dog.
When studying in the United States, Huang Xuncai and his roommates sold art on the streets, once a month, for about 2 hours at a time, and he said that if he was lucky, he could earn 30 knives an hour. Today, even in politics, he still performs as a guitarist at some leisure and charity events.
Huang Xuncai studied in the United States with the overseas merit scholarship issued by the Singapore Public Service Commission, which is often a window for the Singapore government to tap the "potential stocks" in the political arena, and Huang Xuncai is one of them. After finishing his studies in the United States and returning to China, Huang Xuncai started from a grass-roots civil servant and rotated in at least 7 departments such as trade, industry, finance, health, and energy, and because of his outstanding professional ability, he assisted Lee Hsien Loong, then minister of finance, in preparing his first budget, which left a deep impression on Lee Hsien Loong. In 2005, Wong became Lee Hsien Loong's chief private secretary and three years later took over the Energy Market Authority, becoming one of the youngest civil servants at the time.
Co-ordinating Singapore's fight against the epidemic stood out from the core team
Lee Hsien Loong cherished his talents and encouraged Huang Xuncai to enter politics. In 2011, Huang Xuncai officially stepped into politics and was elected to the West Coast Collective Constituency Council, and that year, the Singapore media began to speculate about the candidates for the next generation of successors to the ruling party, and the "Four Heavenly Kings" and "Five Heavenly Kings" were full of calls, and Huang Xuncai was one of them.
At first, however, Mr. Wong was not the first choice for Lee Hsien Loong's successor. In 2019, Lee Hsien Loong first appointed Wang Ruijie as the leader of the team. But due to age and physical reasons, Wang Ruijie resigned in 2021. This also became a key turning point in Huang Xuncai's career, and he took over the position of finance minister for Wang Ruijie. In Singapore, the Finance Minister is the most important position in the government sector, which means that the likelihood of Huang Xuncai becoming a successor is greatly improved.
What made Huang Xuncai famous was his work in the fight against the epidemic. In 2020, Wong began as the co-head of the anti-epidemic cross-departmental working group, and then he began to regularly report on the epidemic to Singaporeans on television, with ratings almost surpassing Lee Hsien Loong's speeches, accumulating a large number of popularity among Singaporean voters.
How did Huang Xuncai inherit the "diplomatic balancing act"?
If Wong Son Choi, the fourth-generation leader of Singapore's ruling party, is elected as the next prime minister, whether he will continue Lee Hsien Loong's foreign policy has aroused concern.
From 2005 to 2008, Wong benefited greatly from his role as Lee Hsien Loong's chief private secretary. At that time, Huang Xuncai was once called a "policy promoter" by the Singapore media because he had to prepare many speeches for Lee Hsien Loong. Huang Xuncai once told the media: "The prime minister sometimes chokes up with excitement when he talks in public about Singapore's difficulties and promotion from a third world country to a first world country. In fact, he will choke up the same when rehearsing or practicing with a small group of people. His dedication to this country has also inspired me to do my best to contribute to the country in order to maintain Singapore's uniqueness. ”
Zhou Shixin, an associate researcher at the Asia-Pacific Research Center of the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, believes that in view of the tacit cooperation between Lee Hsien Loong and Huang Xuncai, even after Huang Xuncai came to power, for a period of time, he will still be influenced by Lee Hsien Loong, and continuing the current foreign policy is a gradual evolutionary process for Singapore to handle and Sino-US relations.
Fan Lei, vice president of the Institute of International Studies of Shandong Youth University of Political Science, said that Singapore's diplomatic principles and basic values have been basically formed after more than 50 years of accumulation, and national interests are still its primary consideration. Therefore, no matter how the new leader's governing style and diplomatic style change, it will not get rid of the diplomatic values with Singapore's national interests as the core.
After the official announcement took over the baton, what was the mystery of Huang Xuncai's departure to visit the United States?
On April 16, Huang Xuncai left for the United States for a 10-day visit. During this period, in addition to meeting with local government officials in Washington, D.C., and New York, he also participated in the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the U.S. Think Tank Forum, and the Second G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.
Zhou Shixin, an associate researcher at the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, believes that the vast majority of Huang Xuncai's activities in the United States are economically related and are his regular foreign affairs activities as finance minister. However, due to the particularly close economic and trade exchanges between Singapore and the United States, it is also in Singapore's national interest to make the United States his first visit after becoming a "prospective successor".
In the view of Zhuang Guoguo, distinguished professor of Xiamen University, chair professor of Huaqiao University, and president of the China Southeast Asian Society, Huang Xuncai's visit to the United States can be said to be a comprehensive appearance, so that all strata of the United States will know Huang Xuncai. During his visit to the United States, he will be cautious in his words and deeds, and prudently abide by the policy toward the United States handed down by Lee Hsien Loong.
Huang Xuncai: Combined is two benefits, and both are hurt
On April 18, Wong attended a dialogue meeting held by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, an American think tank, to speak out on Sino-US relations, which was seen by the outside world as the future direction of Singapore's diplomacy. The think tank's president, Adam Person, raised a series of sharp questions related to the United States and China, but Wong seemed prepared to put forward his own set of well-founded views that reflected Singapore's position and feelings.
Huang Xuncai said in an interview that the current views and attempts of the United States to contain China's rise have prevailed. And "it will only make China more determined to rely on self-reliance and develop its own indigenous technologies, while excluding China from the system will only lead to China developing its own parallel systems and making its own rules." ”
He pointed out that if the United States and China maintain exchanges and cooperate with each other on global issues, this is a more favorable situation for the world. If the United States tries to contain China's rise, this will be difficult and futile, and it will ultimately hurt the world, including the United States itself.
In this regard, Zhuang Guoli believes that Huang Xuncai's speech reflects the characteristics of "occasionally revealing his true face", in which he very firmly expounded Lee Hsien Loong's view that the world, including the United States, should accept China as a constructive role. The international community cannot do without China, and if China is "kicked out", the world will be torn apart, this is not Singapore, nor should the world see it.
Huang Xuncai will adopt a moderate "China first" policy in the future?
After Huang Xuncai was confirmed as the next generation leader of the ruling party, netizens turned over a video of him singing the song "I Ask Heaven" in Hokkien dialect at a fundraising party in 2014.
Since he grew up in an English and Malay environment, Huang Xuncai once admitted in 2020 that Mandarin is not very good, but only 2 years later, the Singapore media found that he could already speak and communicate in fluent Chinese at the Budget Forum held on March 28 this year, which is enough to see his own sweat and efforts.
In fact, Huang Xuncai has long been committed to promoting Sino-Singapore cooperation. In his resume, there are many positions related to China.
In this regard, Zhuang Guoguo said that considering Huang Xuncai's background and style, as well as the existing politics handed down by Lee Hsien Loong, it is estimated that Huang Xuncai's friendly attitude toward China will be strengthened in the future, not weakened, and he will pursue a moderate "China first" policy in terms of emotions and interests. Then, in international affairs, he will most likely show more support for the United States, but in regional affairs, such as China and ASEAN affairs and Asia-Pacific affairs, he will appropriately favor China.
The author is Ding Zhenzhen, editor-in-chief of Key Insights