US-China rivalry to persist despite trade truce, Singapore says

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By Faris Mokhtar and Claire Jiao

(Bloomberg) — Fierce competition between the US and China will persist despite the recent meeting of the countries’ leaders creating an opportunity for the two economic superpowers to engage and deescalate, said Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

“The intense competition and rivalry will continue I’m sure,” Wong said in an interview with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait at the New Economy Forum in Singapore on Wednesday (19 Nov). “While it may be a temporary truce, a temporary stabilisation in the relationship, it was much needed.”

The guardrails will ensure the rivalry does not slide into a full decoupling, or worse confrontation and conflict, Wong said.

Wong, 52, has repeatedly warned that President Donald Trump’s tariff war and deepening disagreement with China on trade and security has ended an era of globalisation and open trade – an environment in which Singapore had flourished. And Washington’s forceful actions toward Beijing has stoked the competition.

“All the actions that America takes vis-a-vis China has, in a way, only strengthened their resolve to work even harder, to move faster on technology self-sufficiency, and they are determined to grow,” Wong said.

Trade-reliant Singapore, like other Southeast Asian nations, continues to balance a delicate relationship between China, its top trading partner, and the US, it’s biggest investor and a key security ally.

The US and China reached a detente at a summit in South Korea in October, although negotiations continue on how Beijing will manage sales of rare earth materials, a key market it dominates. Before the meeting, both Trump and President Xi Jinping had been locked in a cycle of tit-for-tat actions that threatened global trade.

“We don’t have to choose” between the two powers, Wong said, adding that the country will engage “issue by issue” and through the lens of Singapore’s national interest.

The US has played a critical role in global peace and stability, and has the potential to play that role in the future despite Trump’s America First ethos, he said.

“We certainly hope that America will be actively engaged in the world – maybe not now, maybe not with this administration – but there will be a time when America can take up its role and be actively engaged, constructive, and continue to have good relations with all its key partners.”

Other highlights from the discussion:

On Taiwan, “America has always been consistent and very careful with its policy that there should not be any unilateral change in the status quo,” in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act and the One China policy. “America has broadly speaking maintained a consistent approach with that policy. And if it does so, I think there is a good chance of us maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits.”
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, wants to integrate faster and become a single market, but it takes time because its various members are moving at a different paces, Wong said. “Countries have different levels of development,” Wong said. “We’re not quite there to negotiate deals collectively.”
Wong said his government is studying nuclear energy “seriously” amid growing energy needs fueled by the AI boom. “There won’t be an easy silver bullet in our case because we are small or we are unable to scale up renewable energy in terms of the amount that we need,” he said. Developing nuclear energy also depends on the available technology that will continue to evolve to ensure safety, he added. An ASEAN power grid or hydrogen are possible but longer-term and expensive options, Wong said.
The city-state still wants to grow its wealth management business, while tackling inequality, the premier said. That isn’t limited to capital gains or wealth taxes, he said, as Singapore has the ability to create social protections, such as through subsidised housing which allows wealth creation and transfers for citizens.
Wong said being a financial centre means there may be illicit flows or “flies” who enter along with legitimate wealth. “We do have quite a big fly swatter,” he said. “We are very stringent and we take swift action and we are determined to protect our reputation because that’s what keeps Singapore going: a trusted business and financial centre.”

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