Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is no stranger to China. “I made it a point to visit China almost every year since entering politics,” said PM Wong in an interview.
However, his visit to China this week (June 22-26) is a special one. Leading a delegation from his new cabinet and various government officials, this will be PM Wong’s first official visit in his capacity as Prime Minister.
Of the political office holders who are joining PM Wong on his China visit are Acting Transport Minister and Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow and MP Syed Harun Alhabsyi, both recently elected first term MPs.
Other members of the delegation include Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations Grace Fu, and Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Sim Ann.
This year, Singapore and China will celebrate 35 years of diplomatic relations. However, the trust and understanding between our two countries go a long way before that.
From the first meeting of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Deng Xiaoping in 1978, relations between China and Singapore have continued to strengthen. In 2023, bilateral ties were upgraded to an “All-Round High-Quality Future-Oriented partnership”.
Speaking to Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday (June 23), PM Wong shared that this “deep level of trust and understanding” between Singapore and China “cannot be taken for granted”.
Instead, it has to be cultivated and nurtured, year after year, generation after generation.
As 4G leader, Mr Wong has taken on the responsibility for strengthening our ties with China, the world’s second-largest economy and our largest trading partner.
“I am fully committed together with the rest of my team to strengthen our interactions and exchanges with our counterparts in China,” said PM Wong. That will include cooperation with China in areas such as green energy and the digital economy.
“My message at Tianjin will be the importance of upholding a rules-based multilateral order. Because without rules, without longstanding norms of cooperation, countries everywhere will be worse off,” said PM Wong in an interview with Chinese media.
“Small countries like Singapore risk being sidelined and squeezed by the bigger powers,” added PM Wong. “[We must] find ways to get countries to find win-win cooperation and work together in areas of shared interest.”
