Singapore hopes China will restore pre-pandemic visa-free arrangement, flight connectivity: Lawrence Wong

Mr Wong also responded to a question on how Singapore’s fourth generation (4G) leadership will deepen ties with China.

He said the relationship between the two countries has been built on mutual trust developed over generations, through years of friendship and working together on multiple projects.

These projects include the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park project – launched in 1994 to develop a township within Jiangsu province – and the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city, which aims to build a 30 sq km ecologically friendly district.

Mr Wong added that a “virtuous cycle” of trust at the leadership level has allowed them to develop projects that are relevant to both sides.

“And I think if we can continue to maintain this high level of trust, then we will be able to take our relationship forward and realise our goals of an upgraded partnership, one that’s high quality and future-oriented.”

Responding to a question about Singapore’s role in facilitating mutual understanding between the United States and China, Mr Wong said Singapore has to be realistic about what it can or cannot do.

“We cannot prescribe policy for US and China, we cannot tell either country what to do. But what we aim to do is to stay friends with both as far as possible,” said Mr Wong.

“And if either party wants to seek our views, we will be very happy to share with them our perspectives candidly and objectively.”

Commenting on the superpower relationship, he said it would be “very hard” to bring US-China relations back to what they used to be.

“But we hope that there can be a way … to develop a new basis for this relationship, one where there will likely be very intense competition across many fronts, but at least some guardrails to avoid escalation, to prevent misunderstanding, and to manage the areas of differences.”