(Bloomberg) — Singapore’s prime minister-in-waiting said the meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was “a good start” as Asian leaders greet diplomatic efforts between the top two economies with guarded optimism.
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Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, 49, said in an interview with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait that the meeting between the two leaders was “important and constructive,” but also “just the beginning of a long and difficult journey.”
“We shouldn’t have any illusions that this one meeting has changed things overnight because there has been such deep suspicions and distrust built up over so many years,” Wong said.
Singapore has been among the most vocal in Asia as US-China ties worsened over the years, calling on both nations to avoid a clash that could economically hit smaller countries. The city-state is clearly wedged between the two, allowing Washington to bolster its presence in the region via access to military facilities, while counting on China as its top trading partner.
While Wong lauded the first in-person meeting between Xi and Biden, he urged communication needed to continue at all levels, including between militaries, and not just at the top levels.
“Everyone is saying the right things, but maneuvering for maximum advantage, and that’s not helpful because accidents can happen, miscalculations can happen,” he said at Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum.
‘Red Line’
That dynamic has only gotten more complicated as ties between Washington and Beijing have soured on everything from trade to technology, and over Taiwan. The Biden administration has meanwhile stepped up engagement in Southeast Asia to reassure nations that it can be trusted an an indispensable security partner.
Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan previously said the relationship between the two global powers has gotten so bad the stage is “almost pre-set” for an accident akin to the events precipitating World War I. Wong himself said in an earlier interview with Bloomberg News that he was worried the US and China could “sleepwalk into conflict” over Taiwan.
On Thursday, Wong concurred with Biden, who said after meeting Xi that he doesn’t believe China plans an “imminent” attack on Taiwan. “China and President Xi have so many immediate domestic preoccupations,” Wong said. “Why would they want to do something like this? But having said that, for China, Taiwan is a red line.”
Here’s a brief transcript on Wong’s interview during the Bloomberg New Economy Forum:
Economic Downsides
“We are clear eyed about the challenges and we will deal with these downsides. The downsides includes dealing with making sure Singaporeans can have access to affordable housing. The downsides includes looking at how we can ensure inclusive growth, dealing with income and wealth inequalities and also continuing to invest in Singaporeans.”
Rising Rentals
“That impacts more the foreign professionals who are looking to rent but it does have an impact on competitiveness. But prices are also a concern with regards to affordability.”
“Fortunately, we do have in Singapore public housing that caters to 80% of Singaporeans. We can keep prices affordable, but we monitor this very, very closely, the entire property market as well as affordable housing for Singaporeans.”
Crypto Speculation
“We are open to digital innovation and digital asset innovation, but we are not open to crypto speculation at all.”
“We were on the right track to go big on digital assets innovation, which is an important enabler and I think something that potentially can transform financial markets, cross border payments, settlements, capital markets, a lot of potential there.”
“But, and we’ve said this for a long time, even when people criticized us for saying that, which was that we need to take a strong stance against crypto speculation and trading especially by retail investors. So we had put out even before FTX happened, we had put out a consultation paper on tightening regulatory rules around this aspect — on crypto trading, on retail investors access to crypto.”
(Updates with more context, comments from Wong)
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