Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew on US-China Relations

Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew recently returned from a trip to the United States, where he delivered a lecture at Harvard University, celebrated the 40th anniversary of Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC's operations in the US, and engaged with prominent American strategic thinkers and corporate leaders.

Reflecting on his trip, Mr. Lee acknowledged that both the US and China are closely monitoring the potential implications of the incoming Donald Trump administration. American business leaders, while optimistic about the US economy under Republican leadership, expressed anxieties about US-China relations, particularly the prospects for their investments in China and the outlook for further investments.

Meanwhile, the Chinese are closely observing the situation, concerned 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. This trend is set to heighten under an America led by Mr. Trump, who has assembled a team of China hawks and vowed to impose tariffs on Chinese goods.

"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. He emphasized the need for engagement between the two countries, despite their differences, as both are major players on the world stage. "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," he said.