GYEONGJU, South Korea: It is a “relief” that the Trump-Xi meeting in Busan earlier this week went well, but the fundamental rivalry and the structural issues between the two superpowers are still unresolved, said Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Saturday (Nov 1).
He said he was glad the meeting took place and that it has provided some stability for the global economy.
Nevertheless, the outcome of the meeting seemed more of a “temporary truce” that established “guardrails” around the US-China relationship.
US President Donald Trump hailed the Thursday meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “great success”, and China confirmed that some rare earth curbs would be suspended.
The positive outcome is much needed and very welcomed as it provides some predictability, but the underlying structural issues have not been fully resolved, said Mr Wong.
“The rivalry between the two countries remains, the mutual suspicion, the distrust of one another remains, the continued attempts to insulate themselves from one another, I'm sure, will continue,” he said in an interview with the Singapore media at the end of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM).
Over the four days in Gyeongju, Mr Wong attended AELM sessions, met his counterparts over dinners and held bilateral meetings, including with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday.
“We just have to be realistic," Mr Wong said of the Trump-Xi meeting. "It's a relief that this has taken place, but we should also be very clear that the underlying concerns and underlying rivalry between the two great powers will continue."
Giving his take on how the APEC summit went, Mr Wong said there is a shift in how trade discussions are conducted in today’s context, noting that the multilateral bloc’s founding mission was to promote open and free trade in the Asia-Pacific.
Mr Wong said: “Today, when we meet, APEC leaders still talk about trade, but different modifiers are used to describe trade.
“It is not just ‘open and free’. Some economies talk about trade having to be ‘fair and balanced’, suggesting that it wasn’t in the past,” he said.
Increasingly, the word “security” is also used liberally alongside trade discussions – not just carve-outs related to national security, but also economic, supply chain and technological security, Mr Wong said.
“In the name of security, more barriers are put up against trade.”
Asked about his dinner on Oct 29 with Mr Trump as well as other APEC leaders, Mr Wong said a wide range of global and regional issues were discussed, but not the specifics of trade.
But he added that looking at the policies under the Trump administration, it is “quite clear” what the US will continue to do where trade is concerned.
“They would like to see trade continuing. They know that they can’t do everything within America ... they will need partners.”
He then added that the Trump administration's actions reflect the mood of the American people, which believes that trade in past decades has not benefitted the US and hence would like to see some rebalancing.
“How long will this continue for? No one can say,” said Mr Wong, reiterating that these wider trends are likely to continue across the world in terms of security and trade concerns.
After his meeting during the APEC summit with US Treasury Secretary Bessent, Mr Wong said in response to a question about the US’ trade tariffs on Singapore that the issue of trade was only discussed briefly.
Mr Wong, who is also Singapore’s finance minister, said the two sides discussed fintech, digital assets, tax policies and how Singapore cooperates with the US when they take action against organised crime.
As for trade, the prime minister noted that US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong are the main negotiators in this area.
Singapore is currently subject to a US baseline tariff rate of 10 per cent. Pharmaceutical companies are subject to a 100 per cent tariff rate “unless a company is building their pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in America”.
“I updated (Mr Bessent) on Singapore’s positions and where we stand, and hopefully he will update and share that with his colleagues in the government too, and we can continue to make progress on our trade negotiations.”
It is in such an environment where trade barriers are put up in the name of security that APEC leaders are meeting, said Mr Wong.
“Understandably, there are different views across APEC economies around trade, but it is still very good that in this APEC meeting, we were able to achieve a consensus,” he said, underscoring that APEC leaders are “generally still pro-trade” in spite of the caveats on security.
“This is important for Singapore, because we are such a trade-reliant and trade-dependent economy. Trade is not just good to have for us. Trade is our lifeblood, trade is existential for us,” said Mr Wong.
This is why Singapore must continue to support the liberalisation of trade, added the prime minister.
To this end, Singapore has continued to push for reforms to the World Trade Organization, while bringing regional groupings together, such as through trade pacts and free trade agreements.
He highlighted the launch of the Green Economy Partnership Agreement (GEPA) negotiations with New Zealand and Chile during the APEC summit and past deals struck with other countries in the digital economy.
Among other things, these agreements would facilitate trade and investment flows, as well as harmonise standards and cut the red tape for businesses to interoperate in different economies, he said.
Asked how such deals could benefit Singaporeans, Mr Wong said it boils down to the tangible benefits brought about by trade – more trade and investment leads to better jobs for Singaporeans.
“Trade also has a lot of intangible benefits. When we trade with one another, it leads to more competition,” said Mr Wong.
“But the competition sharpens our capabilities. There’s an exchange of ideas – we learn from one another, and we all get better along the way.”
Earlier on Saturday, Mr Wong spoke to APEC leaders on the importance for the bloc to cooperate on artificial intelligence.
Singapore is a small, compact, digitally connected city-state that cannot develop the best AI foundation models, he said during a session at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
“We can make use of them to develop and create applications with the biggest impact, in areas like finance, logistics, healthcare and advanced manufacturing, but we can’t do this work alone,” he said.
“We are very keen to cooperate and exchange best practices with other APEC economies,” the prime minister added, noting that APEC members have AI expertise and experience.
After leaving Gyeongju, Mr Wong will be making an official visit to Seoul at the invitation of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
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He said he was glad the meeting took place and that it has provided some stability for the global economy.
Nevertheless, the outcome of the meeting seemed more of a “temporary truce” that established “guardrails” around the US-China relationship.
US President Donald Trump hailed the Thursday meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “great success”, and China confirmed that some rare earth curbs would be suspended.
The positive outcome is much needed and very welcomed as it provides some predictability, but the underlying structural issues have not been fully resolved, said Mr Wong.
“The rivalry between the two countries remains, the mutual suspicion, the distrust of one another remains, the continued attempts to insulate themselves from one another, I'm sure, will continue,” he said in an interview with the Singapore media at the end of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM).
Over the four days in Gyeongju, Mr Wong attended AELM sessions, met his counterparts over dinners and held bilateral meetings, including with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday.
“We just have to be realistic," Mr Wong said of the Trump-Xi meeting. "It's a relief that this has taken place, but we should also be very clear that the underlying concerns and underlying rivalry between the two great powers will continue."
SECURITY AND TRADE ARE MORE INTERTWINED TODAY
Giving his take on how the APEC summit went, Mr Wong said there is a shift in how trade discussions are conducted in today’s context, noting that the multilateral bloc’s founding mission was to promote open and free trade in the Asia-Pacific.
Mr Wong said: “Today, when we meet, APEC leaders still talk about trade, but different modifiers are used to describe trade.
“It is not just ‘open and free’. Some economies talk about trade having to be ‘fair and balanced’, suggesting that it wasn’t in the past,” he said.
Increasingly, the word “security” is also used liberally alongside trade discussions – not just carve-outs related to national security, but also economic, supply chain and technological security, Mr Wong said.
“In the name of security, more barriers are put up against trade.”
Asked about his dinner on Oct 29 with Mr Trump as well as other APEC leaders, Mr Wong said a wide range of global and regional issues were discussed, but not the specifics of trade.
But he added that looking at the policies under the Trump administration, it is “quite clear” what the US will continue to do where trade is concerned.
“They would like to see trade continuing. They know that they can’t do everything within America ... they will need partners.”
He then added that the Trump administration's actions reflect the mood of the American people, which believes that trade in past decades has not benefitted the US and hence would like to see some rebalancing.
“How long will this continue for? No one can say,” said Mr Wong, reiterating that these wider trends are likely to continue across the world in terms of security and trade concerns.
After his meeting during the APEC summit with US Treasury Secretary Bessent, Mr Wong said in response to a question about the US’ trade tariffs on Singapore that the issue of trade was only discussed briefly.
Mr Wong, who is also Singapore’s finance minister, said the two sides discussed fintech, digital assets, tax policies and how Singapore cooperates with the US when they take action against organised crime.
As for trade, the prime minister noted that US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong are the main negotiators in this area.
Singapore is currently subject to a US baseline tariff rate of 10 per cent. Pharmaceutical companies are subject to a 100 per cent tariff rate “unless a company is building their pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in America”.
“I updated (Mr Bessent) on Singapore’s positions and where we stand, and hopefully he will update and share that with his colleagues in the government too, and we can continue to make progress on our trade negotiations.”
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COMPETITION SHARPENS SINGAPORE’S CAPABILITIES
It is in such an environment where trade barriers are put up in the name of security that APEC leaders are meeting, said Mr Wong.
“Understandably, there are different views across APEC economies around trade, but it is still very good that in this APEC meeting, we were able to achieve a consensus,” he said, underscoring that APEC leaders are “generally still pro-trade” in spite of the caveats on security.
“This is important for Singapore, because we are such a trade-reliant and trade-dependent economy. Trade is not just good to have for us. Trade is our lifeblood, trade is existential for us,” said Mr Wong.
This is why Singapore must continue to support the liberalisation of trade, added the prime minister.
To this end, Singapore has continued to push for reforms to the World Trade Organization, while bringing regional groupings together, such as through trade pacts and free trade agreements.
He highlighted the launch of the Green Economy Partnership Agreement (GEPA) negotiations with New Zealand and Chile during the APEC summit and past deals struck with other countries in the digital economy.
Among other things, these agreements would facilitate trade and investment flows, as well as harmonise standards and cut the red tape for businesses to interoperate in different economies, he said.
Asked how such deals could benefit Singaporeans, Mr Wong said it boils down to the tangible benefits brought about by trade – more trade and investment leads to better jobs for Singaporeans.
“Trade also has a lot of intangible benefits. When we trade with one another, it leads to more competition,” said Mr Wong.
“But the competition sharpens our capabilities. There’s an exchange of ideas – we learn from one another, and we all get better along the way.”
AI COOPERATION
Earlier on Saturday, Mr Wong spoke to APEC leaders on the importance for the bloc to cooperate on artificial intelligence.
Singapore is a small, compact, digitally connected city-state that cannot develop the best AI foundation models, he said during a session at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
“We can make use of them to develop and create applications with the biggest impact, in areas like finance, logistics, healthcare and advanced manufacturing, but we can’t do this work alone,” he said.
“We are very keen to cooperate and exchange best practices with other APEC economies,” the prime minister added, noting that APEC members have AI expertise and experience.
After leaving Gyeongju, Mr Wong will be making an official visit to Seoul at the invitation of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
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