SINGAPORE — Leaders of both the United States and China may not want war, but they are often pulled by mass public emotions, which could result in a conflict that would be “cataclysmic” for the whole world, former foreign affairs minister George Yeo said.
The visiting scholar at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore said there is a misperception that China is a tiger that will “leap at you and eat you up”, when the reality is that its nature is that of a panda.
"But China has got to signal that its nature is not that of a tiger, but a panda," he added.
Since he left public office in 2011, Mr Yeo has spoken and written extensively on China.
In his analogy, which the 67-year-old gave during an interview with TODAY on Monday (Aug 22), he said that the panda may look cute, but “you don’t fool around with it. You can be badly mauled”.
Mr Yeo, who accepted that he is seen as being pro-Beijing by some, was giving an interview to coincide with the launch of his book, titled George Yeo: Musings, which is based on interviews with veteran media practitioner Woon Tai Ho and is intended to be the first of three books.
Aside from his last post as Singapore's foreign affairs minister, Mr Yeo has also been minister for health, trade and industry, and information and the arts at various points of his 23-year career. He left office when the watershed 2011 General Election (GE) cut short his political career.
Mr Yeo, who was based in Hong Kong for several years as chairman and executive director of Kerry Logistics Network before he retired in 2019, said on Monday that China is an old civilisation with very conservative instincts that makes it predictable.
Every Chinese dynasty, he said, has built walls, and it continues to do so in the capital market, for Hollywood movies and even games.
“Why do they do that? Why don’t they open up? They like their homogeneity, this makes it easier to govern.”
But with tensions between the two superpowers rising after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on Aug 2, he said that both sides are now planning for war.
“China, for sure, doesn’t wish it, but in the US, there are people who think that war is inevitable… And if it is inevitable, better to have it earlier than later, when China is not as strong.''
China, for sure, doesn’t wish it, but in the US, there are people who think that war is inevitable…And if it is inevitable, better to have it earlier than later, when China is not as strong.
Former Cabinet minister George Yeo on the prospect of war between China and the United States
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Mr Yeo said studies have been done, which indicated that if a war is held sooner rather than later, China will be badly bloodied, while the US will be hurt.
However, if it is held 10 years from now, both sides will be badly bloodied.
“The point is, the longer you wait, the greater China’s relative strength is,” he added.
When asked when he foresaw war between the two nations breaking out, Mr Yeo said that history is full of surprises and that war “doesn't happen in the way we think it would, by cold analysis”.
This is because the actors do not act on the basis of analysis alone, but rather, are “driven by mass passions” and accidents can happen.
When TODAY pointed out that some younger Chinese Singaporeans may identify themselves more strongly with their nationality than ethnicity, Mr Yeo said: “In Singapore, you can say that.
“If you’re a Singaporean Chinese in America, you will feel much more strongly in your Chinese-ness because others see you in your Chinese-ness, and you can’t escape it.”
Mr Yeo was also asked about a video clip he shared in early March this year on his Facebook page by Fox News host Tucker Carlson about claims that the US was funding biological programmes in Ukraine.
In his caption for the post, he merely wrote: “From an unexpected quarter”, which drew criticisms from several segments of the online community since the video clip had been already been found to be false.
Mr Yeo clarified that he was not saying that he agreed with the video’s message, but that he simply found it fascinating because Mr Carlson, “who is normally very anti-China, took China’s side”.
When probed if what Mr Yeo has been saying about China, combined with his posts about the country on social media, might be seen by some as “pro-China”, Mr Yeo did not disagree.
“Well, I accept that. But I hope those people will read my book, and the coming two ones, and then have an overall evaluation of who I am.”
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/george-yeo-accepts-pro-bejing-label-1975616
