Regional groupings will help strengthen Asia in a troubled world: PM Lee
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Loading... - Masami Beppu
- 31 Mar 2023
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Mechanisms such as the East Asia Summit and Asean Regional Forum have also brought major players together and offered neutral platforms for productive dialogue and engagement, he said.
In a troubled global environment that includes the United States and China being at odds over many intractable issues, countries in Asia need to draw close and work together and with external partners, said Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
They should build “a dense mesh of cooperation and interdependence, rather than a hub-and-spokes model”, to make the region stronger and more resilient.
Such links include regional groupings, which are not mutually exclusive but have varying memberships and often overlap with one another, PM Lee said.
“Not every country needs to be in every group,” he added.
“But collectively, the different groupings build a resilient and interlocking network of cooperation among countries in Asia. At the same time, these regional groupings deepen ties between Asia and the rest of the world. And this gives our external partners stakes in Asia’s peace and prosperity.”
PM Lee was speaking on Thursday at the annual Boao Forum for Asia, described as the “Asian Davos”, where world and corporate leaders have gathered to discuss topics including the digital economy and security.
The Singapore leader’s attendance at the conference on the southern island of Hainan is part of his one-week official visit to China at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who delivered a keynote speech on Thursday.
PM Lee, who last spoke at the Boao Forum in 2018, when Chinese President Xi Jinping was also in attendance, cited Asean as a key example of connectivity, saying it helped initiate the world’s biggest free trade agreement – the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership – which counts China among its 15 members.
Mechanisms such as the East Asia Summit, Asean Plus Three and Asean Regional Forum have also brought major players together and offered neutral platforms for productive dialogue and engagement, he said. Read More…
