China’s attempt to grow its influence should not come at the expense of other countries feeling pressured or it risks a backlash, Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong (黃循財) said.
The superpower knows it has to “play its cards carefully,” Wong said during a dialogue session at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Friday.
A pushback would not be in China’s interests, so it “will have to learn how to moderate and adjust” as it develops its ambitions, he said.
Photo: AFP
The Chinese “feel that their time has come, they need to take their rightful place in the world and they ought to be more assertive with regards to their interests abroad,” Wong said. “Then China has to grow its influence without making other countries feel pressured, coerced or squeezed.”
There are tensions between China and its Southeast Asian neighbors over claims in the South China Sea. Asian nations have also struggled to navigate an increasingly tricky geopolitical picture as the rivalry between the US and China complicates everything from trade to climate issues.
Countries such as Singapore have for years refrained from choosing sides, instead embracing a collective non-alignment that has become harder to maintain as pressures build over maritime claims, as well as Taiwan.
“We value the friendship we have with the US,” Wong said, as he wrapped up an 11-day trip to the country, where he met top officials to discuss how to bolster already strong ties between the two nations.
“China now is also a good friend with all the countries in Southeast Asia, and we would like to stay friends with both,” he said.
China’s fragile economic recovery has been in focus as new data shows the country returning to the brink of deflation.
IMF economists have said that China’s real-estate sector downturn could erode growth prospects in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Chinese economy is “going through a challenging sort of situation now” amid high youth unemployment, Wong said.
As real-estate accounts for about 20 to 30 percent of China’s economy, “once you prick the bubble, there are all sorts of consequences, knock-on effects cascading throughout the entire economy, which they will have to manage,” he said.
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