SINGAPORE - The recent three-day visit of
Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to
Taiwan has turned the warm relations between Singapore
and China almost frosty overnight. Since the visit,
several senior members of the mainland Chinese
government have called the trip an indirect snub to
Beijing's "one China" policy with Taiwan.
Lee is
to step into the shoes of Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong
on August 12, which makes his visit all the more
provocative in Beijing's eyes, although Lee says it was
a private undertaking.
Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Kong Quan did not mince his words when he
accused Singapore of hurting China's core interests and
destroying the political base of bilateral relations.
"Lee's visit lent support to Taiwan's 'independence'
forces, something that is not beneficial to regional
peace and stability and will damage the interests of
Singapore. Singapore cannot maintain its international
status by damaging the sovereignty and core interests of
China," he said.
Lee says the visit was not
meant to change the status quo with Taiwan. In a written
statement that was released to the media, he said
Singapore has consistently maintained a "one China"
policy and opposes independence for Taiwan. "We took
this fundamental position even before we established
diplomatic relations with the PRC [People's Republic of
China]. We have not allowed and will not allow ourselves
to be used to further the cause of Taiwanese
independence. My visit will therefore not affect the way
we deal with the two sides," Lee said.
Lee,
however, revealed that in his personal visit he did meet
Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian and several
opposition leaders and was accorded a high-level state
reception reserved for heads of state. That perhaps
irked China more than anything else, although
Singapore's founding father and former premier Lee Kuan
Yew (Lee Hsien Loong's father) and several high-ranking
foreign trade delegates have visited Taiwan over the
past several years without any major incident.
Prior to departing for Taiwan, Lee was advised
by China not to make the trip. However, Lee responded,
"Singapore's relations with China are based on equality
and mutual respect. But to call off the trip at China's
request would have undermined our right to make
independent decisions, and damaged our international
standing. As a small country, this is a vital
consideration in our dealings with all countries."
He also wanted to visit Taiwan, he said, so he
could understand cross-Strait issues better and
experience first-hand how the Taiwanese viewed the
situation. He said he was fearful that any potential
conflict across the Strait would have dire consequences
not just for the involved parties, but for the entire
region, and for many years to come.
The question
is, why did China choose to sound off now, when in the
past it has tolerated Singapore having close economic
and military ties with Taiwan? Peter Sayers, a senior
analyst with a Hong Kong-based political-risk
consultancy, said the turn of events is more connected
to Taiwan and the growing support of its
pro-independence movement against reunification with
China than anything else. "It's actually more to do with
the internal political baggage in Taiwan and the
Taiwanese call to break away from China under the Chen
presidency that has annoyed Beijing. So it's a
retaliatory move against Singapore that is seen as a
whipping boy for China, instead of conflicting head-on
with Taiwan," Sayers said.
Several businessmen
when contacted by Asia Times Online were skeptical that
there would be any long-term repercussions from Lee's
visit. "It's something regrettable and the strong-worded
statement from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
may be somewhat alarming, but it's just a positioning
statement that China wants to clarify to the rest of the
world how Taiwan should be treated - nothing more than a
province of China, and it will not tolerate any
interference to its 'one China' policy," maintained Jim
Hargreaves, managing director of the petroleum-based
commissioning company Epic Asia, based in Singapore.
In the past, Singapore has played a key role as
a facilitator between Taiwan and China. Under Lee Kuan
Yew, Singapore played an important role in 1993 by
arranging the first-ever top-level talks between China
and Taiwan, known as the Wang-Koo meeting, which later
provided fresh impetus to form a new framework for
peaceful cross-Strait negotiations.
Economic
bedfellows Bilateral trade between Singapore and
Taiwan was recorded at US$8.9 billion last year. Taiwan
and Singapore also have had close military ties since
1976 in terms of which naval war games are conducted
offshore of Taiwan and Singapore, and national
servicemen are trained in Taiwan. Singapore is the
fourth-largest export market and the eighth-largest
import market for Taiwan. Also, Taiwan is one of the
largest foreign semiconductor investment partners in
Singapore, with investments from Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Co Ltd and United Microelectronics Corp in
the billions of dollars.
Bilateral trade between
Singapore and China is almost two-and-a-half times in
value over Taiwan, and is growing at a phenomenal rate.
So to ignore China in favor of Taiwan would definitely
be detrimental to Singapore's growth.
As Lee
reiterated, "Our relations with China are deep and
broad. The principle is mutual interest and mutual
benefit, and not concessions accorded by one side to the
other. As we said in our earlier statement, it would be
regrettable if relations are affected, because both
sides will stand to lose. If our relations cannot
survive this episode, then they must be shallow and
brittle."
The only significant concrete
reverberations of the straining of ties appear to be the
cancellation of a trip by the governor of the People's
Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan, to Singapore, while
Chinese officials in Singapore chose not to attend a
dinner function hosted by Lee as the head of the
Monetary Authority of Singapore, the central bank. Also,
according to a report in the Oriental Morning Post, a
major daily in Shanghai, a Singaporean company has been
denied a permit to hold a Singapore carnival in the
Pudong New Area.
Interestingly, Malaysia reacted
quickly and banned all ministers at the cabinet level
from making official or unofficial trips to Taiwan. It
gained the respect and admiration of China in doing so.
But the larger question remains: Should
Singapore, recognized as a sovereign and independent
nation, be subject to the dictatorial foreign-policy
whims of a larger and more powerful country? It is
agreed that Singapore has to be sensitive to the
concerns of its neighbors and practice good Asian
neighborliness to promote peace and stability in the
region. But where does Singapore draw a line? The days
of the Ming Dynasty exacting tribute to be recognized as
an overlord from its vassal states in Southeast Asia are
over.
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