Singapore Prime Minister Warns China-U.S. Adversarial Relationship Could Lead to War

March 14 , 2021 (EIRNS)—In an interview with BBC aired this weekend, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned of the risk that tensions between China and the United States could become severe, and lead to a military conflict. He believes that the “odds of a military clash,” although greater than five years ago, “are not yet high. But the risk of severe tensions, which will raise the odds later on, I think that is considerable.... It could happen before you expect it, if there is a mishap. If the countries are careful, it will not happen,” he said, according to a Reuters report on the interview.

Lee took pains to not choose sides between the U.S. and China, observing that many countries find themselves in the same situation, BBC reported in its excerpts of the interview.

“It is a problem for many countries, which is why we are all hoping and encouraging the two large powers to think very carefully before deciding that the other one is an adversary which has to be kept down, if not put down,” he said. “What we would like to see is China being a country where its prosperity, development and growing strength is welcomed by other countries in the world, who see this as an opportunity for them to prosper together and live in a stable world together.”

He continued: “The U.S. is still number one, but number two [China] is not so far behind. That is what is difficult for the U.S. to accept.... You cannot avoid working with one another because to go back to where you were ... lies poverty and despair and probably instability and conflict.”