Accommodate China's rise, keep Asia open and stay grounded on immigration: SM Lee

This is an abridged excerpt from Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s Q&A in his dialogue at Chatham House on Oct 27.

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Two-thirds of Singapore's workforce, roughly, are Singaporean, said SM Lee. But a very important part, one-third of that, are foreigners - from CEOs of banks and MNCs, to skilled professionals of all kinds, to construction workers and unskilled, or not-so-skilled, but desperately-needed people to man the whole system. ST FILE PHOTO

(ST FILE PHOTO)

Q US President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Korea. There may be some stabilisation of the US-China relationship but the trend lines are still speaking towards substantial change. Looking five to 10 years, how different do you think Singapore’s region will be?

SM LEE It is very difficult to say how a big power will calculate its interests. But between America and China, there are very deep issues which are not going to disappear. There are the trade issues — they are being discussed. And I hope some arrangement can be worked out. The smoke signals seem to be encouraging. And Mr Xi and Mr Trump will meet in South Korea, and something will be signed. It is not a bad thing to at least take the 100-over per cent tariffs off the agenda.

But the contradictions between the two powers are not going to disappear. The Americans call China a “pacing challenge” - somebody who is catching up with them in technology, size, security, military capabilities, even in nuclear arsenal. And they are determined to stay ahead on all, and also in things like AI (artificial intelligence), and to prevent the Chinese from overtaking them.

On the other hand, the Chinese say: “Development is my right, and I want to grow. I want to progress, and my right to develop is a red line. And how can you tell me that I am not entitled to exceed you?”