<![CDATA[Singapore prime minister urges China and US not to pressure small nations to take sides during Shangri-La dialogue]>

Recalling nearly two centuries of bitter colonial history in Southeast Asia, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Friday told the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's biggest security forum, that small states would not want to be pressured to take sides amid escalating tensions between China and the United States.

"I recount this history to show that Southeast Asia is no stranger to the great game of nations, and to offer some historical perspective to the current strategic situation," Lee told more than 600 delegates from more than 40 countries.

Lee made his remarks while delivering the keynote speech for the three-day forum, which was co-organised by the Singapore government and the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

He said that Singapore's attitude towards China's "Belt and Road Initiative" as well as the US' Indo-Pacific strategy was even-handed and consistent.

Lee's deputy Heng Swee Keat told local media this month that the city state is looking to deepen cooperation with China in key areas of the belt and road. Lee's speech suggested that Singapore will also work with the US on its strategy.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivers a keynote speech to open the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Friday. The three-day event, Asia's biggest security forum, includes representatives from more than 40 countries. Photo: Xinhua

Such development programmes " and other "regional cooperation initiatives" " should strengthen, not divide, ties in the area, Lee said. Nor should they "create rival blocs, deepen fault lines or force countries to take sides".

During a question and answer section after the speech, Lee was asked whether Singapore shared Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's view on Huawei, the Chinese tech giant that has been targeted by the US for potentially being a security risk.

He did not respond directly, but said that Singapore was in the process of defining and selecting its 5G telecommunications system and equipment "so carefully".

"We are consulting with industry, we are consulting with friendly regulators and we will make these decisions in due course. But what is at stake in this 5G discussion? It is to have a secure telecommunications network," said Lee.

Mahathir has said that Malaysia would try to make use of Huawei's technology as much as possible as his country was "an open book" with nothing to spy on.

Asked by Chinese delegate Lieutenant General He Lei how Singapore would avoid choosing between big powers, Lee said that Singapore would just do its "best to be friends with both sides".

Lee continued: "But to actively avoid taking sides actually also requires not being pressured to take sides. And unfortunately when the lines start to get drawn, everybody asked, are you my friend or not my friend? And that makes it difficult for the small countries."

In his speech, Lee called on both China and the US to accept and adapt to a rising China.

"China's growth has shifted the strategic balance and the economic centre of gravity of the world, and the shift continues.

"Both China and the rest of the world have to adapt to this new reality. China has to recognise that it is in a totally new situation created by its own success. China can no longer expect to be treated the same way as in the past when it was much smaller and weaker."

Similarly, the Singapore leader added, "The US, being the pre-eminent power, has the most difficult adjustment to make. But however difficult the task, it is well worth the US forging a new understanding that will integrate China's aspirations within the current system of rules and norms.

"The bottom line is that the US and China need to work together, and with other countries too, to bring the global system up to date, and to not upend the system. To succeed in this, each must understand the other's point of view, and reconcile each other's interests."

"We hope the US and China find a constructive way forward, competing certainly, but at the same time cooperating on major issues of mutual interest."

Lee also praised China's achievement over the past four decades of economic opening-up, saying a rising China has benefited the region.

"The US-China bilateral relationship is the most important in the world today. How the two work out their tensions and frictions will define the international environment for many years to come," he said.

Lee urged China to solve its territorial disputes with other countries in the South China Sea by peaceful means in accordance with international law.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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