China certainly looks at the US as trying to contain, encircle, and suppress them, and trying to deny them their rightful place in the world. It is n… - Lawrence Wong

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China certainly looks at the US as trying to contain, encircle, and suppress them, and trying to deny them their rightful place in the world. It is not just the leadership who thinks like that. I think if you talk to a lot of the Chinese officials, they feel the same way, they feel that there is this containment to put China down. There is that sense and for every action, there will be an opposite reaction. And so China you will see, trying to find ways to get out of that containment; to make sure they become technologically self-reliant. At the same time, China has been through phases of their development where they talk about standing up, getting rich and now being strong. They see themselves as a strong country, their time has come and they want to be more assertive in their national interest, including their national interest overseas. But there too, China will have to learn – as all big countries do – that if they overdo it, if they push their way around, coerce, squeeze or pressurise other countries, it will engender a backlash – including in the region. That is why they cannot go too far, and they will have to learn that lesson – it is a lesson that all big countries go through.

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About Lawrence Wong

Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai (Chinese: 黄循财) (18 December 1972) is a Singaporean politician, economist and former civil servant who has been serving as the fourth prime minister of Singapore since 15 May 2024 and the minister for finance since 2021. A member of the governing People's Action Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Limbang division of Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC since 2015, and previously the Boon Lay division of West Coast GRC between 2011 and 2015. He is the first prime minister born after Singapore’s independence in 1965.

Also Known As

Native Name: Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai 黄循财 黃循財
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Additional quotes by Lawrence Wong

My generation's story is the story of independent Singapore. Our lives are testimony to the values that forged our nation: Incorruptibility, meritocracy, multiracialism, justice and equality. These principles are deeply ingrained in all of us.

The external environment is indeed a big concern for us because even as we go about leadership transition and entering our next phase of development, we are doing so at a time when the world is changing, and it is going to be a new global order, which is likely to be very messy and unpredictable, because the world is in flux. The unipolar moment for America has ended. Everybody talks about going into a multipolar world but it is not quite at a stable equilibrium yet. And this period of transition will be very messy, a lot will be marked by nationalism, protectionism, excessive nationalism – nationalism itself is not a bad thing – but excessive nationalism, very aggressive nationalism, protectionism, rivalry between the major powers. The pattern of globalisation that we have benefited from in the last 30 years will also be very different.

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The social compact is in many ways, the essence of the Singapore Story. It is about who we are and the kind of society we want to be. And I believe all Singaporeans would like Singapore to be a place where there are opportunities for everyone to excel, thrive, maximise their potential and be the best possible version of themselves. But everyone is different. We all have different abilities and strengths. We learn at different paces, so recognising that, I think this pursuit of our dream, it is not about comparing with one another and ending up in some endless rat race. But it is really about understanding what our strengths are, what paths each one of us might choose, and in the end, embracing these different, multiple pathways of success.

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