China snubs S'pore trade delegation, quarrel deepens
China snubs S'pore trade delegation, quarrel deepens
Jason Szep, Reuters/Singapore
A diplomatic spat between China and Singapore deepened on Wednesday after Beijing delayed an invitation to a Singaporean trade delegation to protest a visit by Singapore's future prime minister to Taiwan.
Beijing has responded with fury since Lee Hsien Loong, who will become prime minister next month, met Taiwan's leaders from July 10 to 12 in a visit that Singapore insists was unofficial but which Beijing has said has consequences.
Analysts, however, said the diplomatic row was unlikely to affect trade or business ties.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified Singapore it was "delaying" an invitation to National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan to lead a delegation to Chengdu in western Sichuan province from July 28 to 30, a Singapore government official said.
The snub follows Beijing's decision last week to cancel a trip by its central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, to Singapore, where he had been due to speak at the wealthy city-state's central bank, which Lee heads as chairman.
Still, analysts say Beijing's actions appear mostly symbolic and business ties look strong, noting a multi-million dollar deal announced on Wednesday by a Singapore-based company to buy 30 percent of China's largest ship repair company Cosco Shipyard.
SembCorp Marine Ltd., which is partly owned by the Singapore government, bought the stake for US$30 million from China Ocean Shipping Co, China's largest shipper.
"In terms of the response, it hasn't really been too severe from an economic standpoint. Although they are stopping people from speaking engagements, etc, real life goes on," said Song Seng Wun, an economist at stockbroker GK Goh in Singapore.
"That SembCorp Marine-COSCO deal still went ahead," he said. "This issue will settle down after a while."
In Beijing, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said: "Under the current situation, the exchanges between China and Singapore will be affected unavoidably."
Mah's Singapore-Sichuan Trade and Investment Committee was to attend a ground-breaking ceremony for a township built by a Singapore company and to meet local leaders, the Singapore government official said.
China is Singapore's second-largest trading partner, with two- way trade totaling nearly US$40 billion last year.
China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be brought back to the fold, by force if necessary, and is angered by any contacts that could be interpreted as recognizing the existence of a separate status for the democratic island.
In Taiwan, Lee dined with President Chen Shui-bian and met opposition Nationalist Party leader Lien Chan and Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou. Beijing refuses to deal with Chen, who has espoused an independent Taiwan but ruled out any immediate steps toward independence.
Singapore's prime minister-in-waiting, now deputy prime minister, defended his visit last week, saying to call it off at Beijing's request "would have undermined our right to make independent decisions, and damaged our international standing".
Lee, who will replace Goh Chok Tong as prime minister on Aug. 12, said he wanted to understand "first-hand how the Taiwanese saw things" before taking office.
Singapore maintains a "one-China" policy, which defines Taiwan as part of China and opposes independence for Taiwan. Lee has said his visit did not change or contradict the policy.
Lee's father, Singapore founder and Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, has maintained close ties with China and Taiwan and hosted ice-breaking talks for them in Singapore in 1993.