Oh sure. Foreign Minister Wang Yi came all the way from China and both he and Vivian did not even mention the money-laundering problem.
Vivian, Wang Yi discuss ways to further bilateral ties during China Foreign Minister’s S’pore visit
Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan (right) meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Singapore on Aug 10. PHOTO: VIVIAN BALAKRISHNAN/FACEBOOK
Keval Singh
Correspondent
AUG 10, 2023
SINGAPORE – Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Thursday, the first day of the latter’s visit to Singapore, where the two had a wide-ranging discussion on a variety of strategic issues.
Mr Wang is in South-east Asia for a
three-country visit spread over four days.
On Thursday, he was hosted to dinner by Dr Balakrishnan at the Botanic Gardens.
They discussed their “mutual interest in furthering tourism and business flows, and air connectivity between China and Singapore”, according to a Facebook post by Dr Balakrishnan.
“We had a good discussion on how to take our cooperation forward in keeping with our ‘All-Round High-Quality Future-Oriented Partnership’ which was announced during PM Lee Hsien Loong’s visit to China in March this year,” Dr Balakrishnan added.
He said he and Mr Wang also exchanged views on regional and international developments, including enhancing cooperation between Asean and China.
Dr Balakrishnan pointed out that Singapore and China share “close relations across all levels”.
He noted that the two sides have already seen many exchanges and engagements since the start of 2023, including at the people-to-people level.
“We will continue to explore ways to enhance our cooperation, including in areas such as connectivity, the digital economy and sustainable development,” Dr Balakrishnan said.
Mr Wang will call on Prime Minister Lee, and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday.
Besides Singapore, Mr Wang will also visit Malaysia and Cambodia.
