Singapore's new leader yesterday tried to mend fences with China, saying the city-state would back Beijing if Taipei ``provoked'' armed conflict across the Taiwan Strait.
In a nationally televised address, Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) reaffirmed Singapore's backing for the so-called one-China policy, and stressed the importance that the tiny Southeast Asian country attaches to cordial relations with Asia's emerging giant.
"There is a real risk of miscalculation and mishap" across the Strait, Lee said in the National Day Rally speech, the local equivalent of the U.S. president's state of the union address.
Ties between Singapore and China were severely strained last month after Lee made a ``private and unofficial'' visit to Taiwan.
Beijing reacted with fury to the visit, saying that it violated Singapore's recognition of Beijing as the sole, legitimate Chinese government.
"I will not change our one-China policy. But I had to make the trip to meet the Taiwanese leaders, so I can make the right decision for Singapore in a crisis," Lee said. He added: "If the conflict is provoked by Taiwan, we will not support Taiwan.''
Lee -- elder son of Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀), modern Singapore's founding father -- was sworn in Aug. 12 as Singapore's third prime minister. He replaced Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟).
Earlier this month, Chinese media said that China might delay talks on a free trade deal with Singapore in retaliation for Lee's visiting Taipei.
"His visit has dampened the mood to negotiate the free trade area between the two countries," the China Daily quoted an unidentified commerce ministry official as saying. Economists in Singapore voiced doubts that a delay in talks would damage the wealthy city-state's US$93 billion economy but said it could hurt in more subtle ways, casting a shadow over business deals between the Asian dynamos.
Economists said assessing the impact was difficult until it became clear how much China wanted to punish Singapore for Lee's July 10-12 visit, which the Singapore government has defended as unofficial and within its sovereign right.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS