The visit came less than two weeks after Mr Lee made a working trip to the US. He delivered a lecture at Harvard University, celebrated the 40th anniversary of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC’s operations in the US, and engaged with prominent American strategic thinkers and corporate leaders.
ALL EYES ON TRUMP 2.0
When asked about his key takeaways from both trips, Mr Lee acknowledged that both the US and China are closely monitoring the potential implications of the incoming Donald Trump administration.
“The business people (in America) – they see pluses and minuses. They are not pessimistic about the US economy, because they think the Republican administration generally will be a plus for the US economy,” explained the senior minister.
“But they are anxious about US-China relations, like the prospects for their investments in China and the outlook for further investments in China, and it’s affecting their decisions.”
Meanwhile, the Chinese are closely observing the situation, said Mr Lee, noting their concern about maintaining “relations with America on an even keel”.
Competition and confrontation have been gaining ground in recent years, at the expense of cooperation in the Sino-US relationship. Analysts have singled out competition as effectively becoming a structural condition of their ties.
This is set to heighten under an America led by Mr Trump.
The US president-elect has assembled a team comprising many China hawks and already vowed to impose blanket 60 per cent tariffs on all Chinese goods once he takes the Oval Office. In the latest salvo on Nov 25, Mr Trump said he would impose an additional 10 per cent tariff on China over fentanyl flows.
“The Chinese are trying to figure out how they can maintain their relations on some stable basis, and to have discussions and make commitments which you can follow through on and which will work,” said Mr Lee.
“First of all, across the term of change of government, and secondly, hopefully beyond any single term of an administration.”
The Singaporean leader also remarked that despite their differences, the US and China – the world’s largest economies – must engage with one another.
“You may have contradictions, you may have problems, but you have to deal with one another, because America will always be there … similarly, China will always be here and is not going to disappear, and you have to do business with China,” said Mr Lee.
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