The Singaporean Prime Minister has just settled into his position and will first visit China for five days. After stepping down a year ago, Lee Hsien Loong has already arranged everything for the successor.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially announced that Singaporean Prime Minister Wong Weng Keong will pay an official visit to China, and he will stay for five days. Chinese leaders will meet and hold talks with him respectively, and have in-depth exchanges of opinions on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of common concern.

Although Wong Weng Keong has been the Prime Minister of Singapore for more than a year, it was not until last month when the results of the Singaporean general election were finalized that his position as Prime Minister became firmly established.

[Singaporean Prime Minister Wong Weng Keong will visit China for five days]

Last year, after Lee Hsien Loong stepped down and retired from the front line, Wong Weng Keong began preparing for this year's election. Now that everything is settled, it is time for the Singaporean government to push forward its diplomatic agenda.

First and foremost, it is about consolidating cooperation with China, making China the destination for the first foreign visit after the election, which is a natural choice for Singapore.

China is Singapore's largest trading partner, and while bilateral economic and trade relations are thriving, political trust and defense security cooperation are also steadily progressing. It has been two years since Wong Weng Keong's last visit to China, so it is high time for him to come over.

By the way, during Li Xiaolong's visit to China in 2023, the relationship between China and Singapore was upgraded to a forward-looking partnership, with keywords such as "comprehensive" and "high-quality" emphasized.

Subsequently, Wong Weng Keong visited China twice, and once he did so as the "incoming Prime Minister," with most members of his current cabinet accompanying him.

We specifically pointed out at the time that the team brought by Wong Weng Keong was "special," fully reflecting the importance placed on China-Singapore relations.

It was precisely after Lee Hsien Loong started to step down that Singapore began to emphasize the "continuity" of China-Singapore cooperation, clearly implying that it would further develop the relationship based on the foundation laid by Lee Hsien Loong.

In short, the close cooperative relationship with China is an important strategic asset left by Lee Hsien Loong for Singapore, and as the successor personally promoted by him, Wong Weng Keong has no reason not to maintain it.

[This is Wong Weng Keong's first official visit to China after becoming the Singaporean Prime Minister]

Moreover, Lee Hsien Loong is not completely retired; after stepping down, he continues to serve as Senior Minister in the Cabinet, ranking slightly below the Deputy Prime Minister, and remains quite active to this day.

Although Wong Weng Keong did not visit China throughout the past year, these diplomatic gaps were filled by Lee Hsien Loong. Last December, as Senior Minister, he visited China and received high-level hospitality from China.

All these indicate that even though Lee Hsien Loong has handed over the power, he will continue to play a role in the China-Singapore relations.

Furthermore, it should be noted that members of Wong Weng Keong's cabinet are all part of Lee Hsien Loong's legacy, and Wong Weng Keong served as the Finance Minister of Singapore before becoming Prime Minister, being at the forefront of China-Singapore cooperation for a long time.

It was precisely during Lee Hsien Loong's visit to China as Senior Minister that he expressed confidence in Wong Weng Keong's team expanding China-Singapore cooperation.

[Lee Hsien Loong expressed confidence in expanding China-Singapore cooperation during his visit to China last year]

Clearly, he was conveying to China that he had everything arranged for how Singapore would deal with China moving forward, which in a sense also paved the way for Wong Weng Keong's current visit to China.

Moreover, during the period of Lee Kuan Yew, it was emphasized that Singapore needed to attach great importance to its relations with China. From this perspective, strengthening China-Singapore cooperation has been a consistent "national policy" for Singapore.

We also know that Singapore's position in the Asia-Pacific geopolitical landscape is quite delicate, attempting to "play both sides" between the two major powers, the U.S. and China, strictly adhering to the principle of "economic reliance on China, security reliance on the U.S." in its diplomacy.

This has led to the fact that Singapore's external environment is greatly influenced by the wind direction of Sino-U.S. relations. Over time, "economic reliance on China, security reliance on the U.S." is no longer an unbreakable rule, and there is an urgent need to adapt to the new situation and break away from the previous comfort zone.

[After the U.S.-China tariff war, Lee Hsien Loong warned that Singapore's external environment is no longer stable]

But how to adapt, Singapore does not yet have a clear idea.

Lee Hsien Loong himself also said that Singapore is a "small red dot" in the Asia-Pacific geopolitical landscape, with no room for error.

After the U.S.-China tariff war broke out, Lee Hsien Loong warned that Singapore's stable external environment no longer exists, and the uncertainty will be high in the next 5 to 10 years.

But given Singapore's size, all they can do is "fasten their seatbelts" and passively wait for a seismic shift.

Luckily, the worst-case scenario did not occur, and the U.S.-China tariff war did not escalate further. However, over this period, Singapore has sensed that the good old days are over.

Nowadays, the U.S.'s foreign policies are unpredictable, and Singapore is constantly worried, fearing that one misjudgment could lead to a collapse.

[Lee Hsien Loong has arranged everything for Wong Weng Keong's visit to China in advance]

In this context, strengthening coordination with China can significantly enhance its ability to withstand risks, which is also the main driving force behind pushing for Wong Weng Keong's visit to China.

Past experiences have shown that Singapore cannot act as a peacemaker between the U.S. and China, nor can it remain aloof; it must adopt a long-term strategic vision to determine its position in the interactions between major powers in advance.

Furthermore, when dealing with China, Singapore needs to maintain forward-looking strategic thinking in terms of strategy and continuity in cooperation, strengthen coordination and communication at various levels, follow the trend of multilateralism, and resist any attempts at group confrontation.

In this way, even if unexpected situations arise in the Asia-Pacific landscape in the future, Singapore will be able to handle them with ease.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7517976092125217292/

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