Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong advised the US against isolating China over the Ukraine crisis by presenting it as a conflict between democracies and autocracies, complicating an already tense relationship between the two nations.
"You must exercise extreme caution not to frame the Ukraine crisis in such a manner that China is inevitably on the wrong side," Lee said in comments issued by his office on Sunday.
"We all have a problem in Ukraine," he said. "I believe that if we discuss sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, a large number of countries will join. Even China would not oppose to it, and in fact would warmly encourage it privately."
Vladimir Putin's conflict in Ukraine has strained already fragile ties between the United States and China over a range of security and economic problems ranging from Taiwan to the South China Sea, telecommunications technology, and commerce. Asian states such as Singapore have long desired deeper connections with the United States in order to collaborate on other global challenges such as climate change and pandemic response.
Nonetheless, China's restrained response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine has cemented perceptions within President Joe Biden's administration that President Xi Jinping is edging closer to aiding Moscow as the crisis drags on. Lee earlier stated that Russia's invasion of Ukraine presents "awkward problems" for China, since it breaches Beijing's jealously guarded territorial integrity, sovereignty, and non-interference norms.
"Things are already challenging enough," he stated in Sunday's speech. "Both parties have a low level of trust. It is not always simple to identify the appropriate degree of empowerment to engage in order to tee up for reconciliation in order to lessen tensions, gradually establish trust, and work toward the compromises that are essential if you are to cohabit with them."
Comments