Chinese Premier Li Qiang to visit Singapore for the 1st time since 2018

SINGAPORE: Chinese Premier Li Qiang is scheduled to visit Singapore later this month, the first time that Mr Li will be visiting the city-state in seven years. Citing sources who are familiar with the visit, Bloomberg reported earlier this week that the Premier will be arriving before he attends the Asean Summit on Oct 26, which is scheduled this year in Malaysia.

The report added, however, that one of the sources has said the plans for the visit may still change, and that the foreign ministries of both nations have yet to respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.

It underlined that Mr Li’s visit is part of the effort to strengthen ties between China and Singapore.

Oct 3 was the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations, and President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan exchanged messages to mark the occasion with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li, Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi respectively.

“Today, the Republic of Singapore and the People’s Republic of China celebrate the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Building on the foresight and efforts of our pioneer leaders, particularly Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Deng Xiaoping in the 1970s, we have successively developed the close and wide-ranging partnership we enjoy today. 

“I am confident that Singapore and China will continue to work closely together to bring bilateral relations to even greater heights,” President Tharman wrote.

In June, PM Wong met with Premier Li in Beijing, during his first state visit outside Southeast Asia. The two leaders noted the progress of bilateral relations, marked specifically by the development of three government-to-government projects in Suzhou, Tianjin, and Chongqing.

Mr Li’s visit to Singapore comes amid efforts by China to strengthen relations in Asia. As China’s influence is growing in the region, some analysts have said that the influence of the United States is waning, especially in Southeast Asia.

Not everyone agrees with this, however.

“The United States has not necessarily lost ground overall to China since 2017 (the first year covered by our data). But what is notable about US influence in the region is that it is heavily concentrated in just two countries: the Philippines and Singapore, for both of which Washington is a deep and indispensable security partner. Elsewhere in the region, US influence varies wildly. In Laos and Cambodia, for example, it is a more peripheral presence,” reads a recent report from The Lowy Institute. /TISG

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