More Geopolitical Tension Expected in Asia-Pacific: Singapore PM

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned citizens in a national day address on Sunday that tensions between the United States and China and the Russia-Ukraine war have affected the security situation in the Asia-Pacific.

Worsening US-China relations had made it “almost impossible” for the two superpowers to work together on pressing global issues like climate change, pandemics, and nuclear proliferation, Lee said, noting that tensions had escalated sharply over Taiwan.

“We can expect more geopolitical contestation in the Asia-Pacific,” he said, adding that Singapore would try its best to avoid being caught up in the “major power rivalry”.

Lee, who has held power for 18 years, said US President Joe Biden had spoken to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping recently and they had agreed to meet in person, but neither side expected relations to improve any time soon.

International economic conditions had also changed fundamentally, he said, adding that added.

Wong to be Next PM

Deputy PM Lawrence Wong had been chosen to be the city-state’s next leader, so the matter of succession had been settled, he said.

Meanwhile, Singapore would decriminalise sex between men, the prime minister said, adding that society in the city-state was becoming more accepting of gay people.

But he added the government had no intention of changing the city-state’s legal definition of marriage – that is, between a man and a woman.

“I believe this is the right thing to do, and something that most Singaporeans will now accept,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in the annual national day rally speech, adding the government will repeal Section 377A of the penal code, a colonial-era law that criminalises sex between men.

“Even as we repeal Section 377A, we will uphold and safeguard the institution of marriage… Under the law, only marriages between one man and one woman are recognised in Singapore,” Lee added.