Some people in Singapore have called for Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to resign over his inappropriate remarks. Wong stated that he hopes China will put aside its history and that Japan should play a greater role in security in Southeast Asia.
Recently, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's comments at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum stirred up considerable controversy. Some people online openly demanded he step down, believing his statements were biased and ignored historical lessons. The incident started with the remarks of Japanese Prime Minister Hashimoto Yōko. On November 7th, she said that if something happened in Taiwan, it could threaten Japan's survival, and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces would have to act. This statement immediately drew a response from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which accused her of interfering in internal affairs and seriously violating the One-China principle.
Xue Jian, the consul at the Chinese consulate in Osaka, posted on X, implying "cutting off the dirty heads," but later deleted the post. However, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs protested, summoned the Chinese ambassador, and the two sides exchanged heated words. China also filed a complaint with the United Nations, claiming that Japan was engaging in armed intervention, violating international law. Travel advisories were issued, advising Chinese citizens not to visit Japan in the short term, and economic measures were taken, such as excluding Japanese media from the Zhuhai Air Show.
On November 19th, at a forum in Singapore, Wong was questioned by the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg about this matter. He did not directly comment on whether Hashimoto's remarks were correct, but instead mentioned that Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore, had long set aside their old accounts with Japan from World War II. Now, Japan is the most reliable major country in ASEAN, consistently ranking first in trust surveys, with 66.8% of ASEAN decision-makers choosing it as their top partner. Singapore welcomes Japan to take more responsibility for security issues, such as maintaining the stability of the South China Sea shipping lanes, thus achieving regional balance. He also specifically pointed out that China and Japan have significant trade volumes, but the Diaoyu Islands dispute and the legacy of World War II issues have complicated relations. He hopes China will learn from ASEAN, exercise restraint, seek dialogue to ease tensions, and avoid escalating the situation. Wong's intention is that if Japan wants to stabilize relations, China should follow suit. Even with differences, cooperation is still possible. He didn't mention that Japan should take the initiative to stop, only emphasizing that Asian stability is good for everyone.
This statement sounds like taking sides, and Chinese netizens exploded, saying that Wong has forgotten the suffering Singapore itself endured from Japanese invasion. In 1942, the Japanese military carried out a "cleansing operation" in Singapore, killing tens of thousands of Chinese residents, with bloodstains everywhere on docks and alleys. Hong Kong 01 and Oriental Daily criticized Singapore's balanced diplomacy for going off track, damaging ASEAN consensus.
Domestically in Singapore, the reaction was calm. Lianhe Zaobao reported the full text, emphasizing that the prime minister wanted to promote stability without taking sides. Opposition party members asked about the impact on Sino-China trade in the parliament, but there was no major movement. Some older members of the Chinese community shook their heads while reading the newspaper, feeling that history was sensitive, but most people were busy with daily life and did not delve deeply. Internationally, Nanyang Siang Pau analyzed that Singapore was tilting towards the US and Japan, weakening its neutral image. BBC said that Wong was the first senior leader to comment on this controversy, but the words were already spoken and difficult to retract.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1850098569794572/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.