If he so wishes, he can contest in the next GE: Govt on Li Shengwu

This is in response to an NYT video on tyranny where he was featured as a political victim

- Anjali Raguraman

A recent video by the New York Times (NYT) featuring economist Li Shengwu used a false portrayal of Singapore to advance the American publication's own agenda, said the Republic's ambassador to the United States Lui Tuck Yew.

Objecting to the opinion video titled How Tyranny Begins, Mr Lui said it is essentially a commentary on the current state of US politics. "But you draw in Singapore via the misleading analogies provided by Mr Li Shengwu, masquerading as a persecuted dissident," said Mr Lui in a Jan 26 letter addressed to the NYT editor.

Singapore's Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) on Jan 27 released to local media this letter and another responding to a separate NYT article.

The NYT video, published on Jan 22, featured four people around the world who said they had been on the receiving end of political repression in their countries. One of them is Mr Li, an economics professor at Harvard University and the son of Mr Lee Hsien Yang - the brother of Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The others are from Hungary, Nicaragua and Russia.

Mr Li recalled how he was criminally prosecuted over a private Facebook post and had fled Singapore.

Among several claims in the video, he said his uncle, SM Lee, Singapore's third prime minister, had used police investigations and criminal prosecutions against his opponents.

"You want to think it's not happening, because otherwise, you might have to do something," said Mr Li in the video.

"It is better to fight rather than to give in and hope that somebody else will be the check and balance for you," he added.

Responding to Mr Li in his letter, Mr Lui said: "If he so wishes, he can contest in the next general election, which must be held before November this year."