Important for Singapore to engage China, Japan in shaping regional affairs: PM Wong

HONG KONG – It is important for Singapore to engage both China and Japan – which are going through a “difficult phase” in their relationship – not just bilaterally, but also in shaping regional affairs, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on March 28.

The two North-east Asian countries are important partners for ASEAN, he noted.

China is ASEAN’s largest trading partner, while Japan is a top investor in the regional grouping. Beyond trade, both countries are key partners in the ASEAN-centred regional architecture. Singapore will take over ASEAN’s rotating chairmanship in 2027.

“For Singapore, both China and Japan are important partners,” PM Wong said.

“It is so for Singapore, it is also true for ASEAN, and that is why it is important for us to engage both countries, to deepen our cooperation with them and to engage them actively, not just bilaterally, but also in shaping regional affairs.”

He added: “That is (Singapore’s) consistent message to both China and Japan, and we have had good visits to both countries, and we continue to welcome constructive engagement and further cooperation with both China and Japan.”

PM Wong was speaking to the Singapore media as he wrapped up his visit to Hainan and Hong Kong from March 25 to 28. He was in Hong Kong after attending China’s annual Boao Forum for Asia conference in Hainan province.

The trip came on the heels of his first official visit to Japan from March 17 to 19.

It was his second visit to China in just nine months, after he made his first official trip there as prime minister in June 2025.

He gave a keynote speech at the Boao Forum’s opening plenary, where he said China plays a critical role in shaping a more resilient global order as the world forges new pathways to cooperate.

While he was in Tokyo a week earlier, Singapore and Japan upgraded their ties to a strategic partnership, with deeper cooperation planned in areas including artificial intelligence and green transition.

PM Wong said the timing of the two trips was not pre-planned.

The trip to Japan was originally scheduled for 2025 but had to be postponed due to scheduling difficulties.

Before his trip to Japan was announced, China had invited him to attend the Boao Forum.

“This is the 25th anniversary of the Boao Forum, of which we are a founding member,” he said.

“And I also thought it would be useful for me to visit Hainan, given its development as a free trade port, so I decided to take up the invitation. And as it turns out, the dates were back-to-back. But the timing works out very well.”

Ties between China and Japan have been deteriorating.

In November 2025, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said any Chinese use of force against self-governing Taiwan – over which Beijing claims sovereignty – would “constitute a situation that could threaten Japan’s survival” and therefore justify a military response by Tokyo. Her remarks drew Beijing’s ire.

That same month, PM Wong’s remarks on Singapore’s longstanding position regarding its relationship with Japan, in response to a question posed to him at a Bloomberg forum on China-Japan ties, drew barbs and jibes from Chinese netizens.

Tokyo is set to downgrade ties with Beijing, according to a recent diplomatic report awaiting the Japanese government’s approval in April.

“I recognise fully that China and Japan are going through a difficult phase in their relations,” PM Wong said.

“But from Singapore’s point of view, we are friends with both China and Japan; for that matter, with America and other major partners.”

Good relations are not a zero-sum affair, he had said in Tokyo on March 18 as he made the same point about Singapore’s relations with China and Japan.

PM Wong has often stressed that Singapore’s foreign policy approach is to have many friends and that it will not take sides in rivalries.

“While these major powers may have difficulties in their relations, we want to be friends with all of them – China, Japan, America and others. And it should be possible for us to do so,” he said on March 28.

“That is our approach. It has always been our approach consistently, and we will continue to find ways to engage all these major powers, deepen our cooperation further and look for win-win outcomes.”

The Prime Minister also said that Singapore’s approach towards open and inclusive engagements with the major powers is not unique to the city state.

“This is also ASEAN’s position. No ASEAN country wants to choose sides,” he said.