Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong flew to China on Sunday (April 8) for a five-day visit at the invitation of China's premier Li Keqiang.

Other than Chinese President Xi Jinping, he will also be meeting Vice President Wang Qishan, President Xi Jinping's right-hand man, and Shanghai party chief Li Qiang, a rising star in the current Chinese leadership.

He will also be making his debut appearance at the annual Bo'ao Forum for Asia (BFA), otherwise informally known as the "Asian Davos".

While the purpose of the visit was already widely reported, we thought it'd be interesting to see how local Chinese media portrayed his concurrent written interview with People's Daily on Weibo, as well as what Chinese netizens think about it.

The interview covered topics such as cultural ties, Singapore-China relations, ASEAN-China relations and Belt & Road Initiative. However, the Chinese media seems to be more focused on PM Lee's comment on the trade dispute between China and the US.

China's most important broadcaster: CCTV

CCTV, China's largest broadcaster, picked up on PM Lee's comment on how trade wars are not a good thing for any country.

The English translation (which includes slightly more details) can be found here in a post by CGTN, CCTV's international branch.

Of the 409 comments that were left on the post by CCTV, only 3 were shown.

The most up-voted comment reflects the official rhetoric by the Chinese government.

Translation: We do not stir trouble, nor are we afraid of trouble.

China's hawkish pro-China tabloid: Global Times

While Global Times, which oftentimes takes on a belligerent tone, re-posted CCTV's highlight of PM Lee's comment, the comments there were a lot more varied.

However, the most up-voted comments were not quite friendly towards Singapore, including the following:

Translation: Singapore itself is the first to turn against China.

Many Chinese hold the belief that Singapore, being a majority-Chinese country, should be sympathetic towards China. They feel betrayed when Singapore does not align itself with China in times of dispute.

In other words, the gap between what they think Singapore is supposed to do and what it actually does (choosing to emphasise its identity as a multi-ethnic, sovereign nation which abides by international law) disappoints them.

Still, not all Chinese netizens hold favourable views towards Global Times.

Translation: Global Times is selectively reporting again. Why don't you publish the entire article for everyone to see?

[related_story]

Lianhe Zaobao

Chinese netizens also reacted on Singapore's local Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao's Weibo post.

Translation: (Singapore's PM Lee Hsien Loong in an interview with People's Daily: no country will benefit from a trade war)

PM Lee thinks that although Singapore and China differ in their population sizes and composition, there are areas where they can achieve "win-win cooperation", such as trade and investment, social governance, human development, financial services, and legal affairs.

Many of them seemed impressed by Zaobao's report.

The top comment on Zaobao's post took aim at the difference between Zaobao's coverage and that of the Chinese media:

Translation: There's no complete report from local (Chinese) media. Using taxpayers' money to conduct the interview, yet reporting only the portion aligned with what they (local media) want to say. Making use of others and playing a game that only 3-year-olds play.

Top image via CGTN/YT

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