S’pore is friends with China, Japan; good relations not a zero-sum affair, says PM Wong

TOKYO – Singapore will continue being friends with China and Japan, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on March 18, adding that having good relations with one country does not mean doing so at the expense of another.

The Republic does not see its diplomatic relations as a zero-sum affair, he said in response to questions from the local media about the tensions between the two Asian powers, and on how China might respond to his official visit to Japan.

In an interview to wrap up the main section of his visit, PM Wong said it has long been Singapore’s policy to have as many strong and reliable friends as possible.

He noted that founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew had laid out this fundamental principle of the city state’s foreign policy.

At an S. Rajaratnam Lecture in 2009, Mr Lee had said that a small country must seek a maximum number of friends, while maintaining the freedom to stay a sovereign and independent nation. Both parts of the equation are interrelated and equally important, he added.

Reiterating this axiom, PM Wong said: “We can be friends with both China and Japan, and America, for that matter. We want to maintain as many good friends as possible.”

Doing so is helpful for a small country like Singapore, as it maximises the strategic space for the city state to operate in, he added.

He acknowledged that achieving this can be more complicated in today’s world, as great power rivalry means there will be more scrutiny over what Singapore does.

“When I’m in one country, the other country may take notice. This time, it’s Japan. Next week, it will be China,” he said. “At some point, when I’m in America, the same thing will happen, but that’s just the reality of the complicated geopolitical environment that we are in.”

PM Wong is on his first official visit to Japan from March 17 to 19. Later in March, he is slated to attend the Boao Forum for Asia, a yearly high-level conference held in China’s Hainan province.

During his visit to Tokyo, PM Wong and his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi announced that both countries would elevate ties to a strategic partnership that includes deeper partnership in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and low-carbon energy solutions.

The announcement came after Singapore upgraded diplomatic ties with a number of countries recently.

In 2025, it elevated ties with South Korea to a strategic partnership. The city state also raised its bilateral ties with France, Vietnam and New Zealand to the level of comprehensive strategic partnerships, and with Australia to an enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership.

PM Wong was also asked during the interview about the online response to his comments at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in November 2025 and whether this affected his approach towards China and Japan.

At the forum, PM Wong had been asked about the dispute between China and Japan over Taiwan. He laid out Singapore’s longstanding position on developments in East Asia: that it was in everyone’s interest for there to be stability in Asia, and that he hoped both countries would find ways to de-escalate.

PM Wong also noted then that with the passage of time, Singapore had put its wartime history with Japan aside and was moving forward. His comments at the forum elicited some barbs and jibes in the Chinese online space.

On March 18, PM Wong said his visit to Japan had been very productive. “With China, we continue to have very good relations with them, even after the Bloomberg event last year,” he said.

He cited Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong’s “very good” visit to China in December 2025 to co-chair the 21st Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation, and Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam’s “very productive” visit to Beijing in early February.

PM Wong said he looked forward to visiting China for the Boao forum. He is scheduled to be in China again in November, when Shenzhen hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Even between friends, there will inevitably be differences of views on some issues. But these differences do not have to hold Singapore back in terms of its bilateral ties, cooperation or partnerships, said PM Wong.

“Our focus in Singapore has always been to find the common ground, to focus on the areas where we have good opportunities to work together, and to advance these cooperations in a mutually beneficial manner,” he said.