Some have dubbed the 21st century the "Asian century" due to the rising prominence of China as a world power.

How does Singapore navigate these waters while ensuring our own democracy is free of hostile foreign influences?

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressed these issues in a wide-ranging interview at the Istana, where Mothership was present.

Contentious relations between China & the US

PM Lee related an example of how U.S.-China relations had become more contentious over the years.

He recalled a meeting "early" in his term where the Chinese premier was speaking with an American official. The American was griping about how there was a trade imbalance between the two countries, and the Chinese premier responded that they would like to buy more high-tech products from America.

"There are issues, but we are not hostile to each other. But today, there are issues, and they are trying very hard not to be hostile to each other, but it is a very tense relationship."

PM Lee said that the Nov. 2023 meeting between Biden and Xi in San Francisco helped to stabilise things, with both sides "trying not to make provocative moves."

However, PM Lee believes the underlying tensions and contradictions between their national positions and interests are "very deep" and will be there for a long time, perhaps more than 20 years.

Singapore's good relations with China

Fortunately for Singapore, we have good relations with both the U.S. and China, PM Lee said.

Relations with China have remained good despite "periodic kerfuffles," he said, perhaps referring obliquely to the 2016 Terrex incident.

He name-checked the Suzhou project (30 years and ongoing), the Tianjin project (10 years and ongoing) and Chongqing connectivity initiative, launched in Nov. 2015.

Singapore also has a Free Trade Agreement with China, which was upgraded in Apr. 2023, as well as taking part in projects together like the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Industrial and Infrastructure Bank.

"So, I think overall, our relationships with them are very warm, and I think they know that we would like to do more with them, and we are not against them," PM Lee said.

Singapore's independence

Despite our close ties, PM Lee said that China knows despite our majority ethnic Chinese population, we are "different" from them.

That is "very important", PM Lee said.

He added that if Singapore can maintain a proper relationship with China based on national interests, not one based on ethnic identity, one cannot say that because of inherited common ancestors, "therefore we must have the same history."

Politically significant persons

PM Lee also discussed the Foreign Interference and Countermeasures Act (FICA), under which Politically Significant Persons (PSPs) may be designated.

The first such person to be designated as such was Chan Man Ping Philip, 59, in Feb. 2024.

Chan is a naturalised Singapore citizen who was originally from Hong Kong.

According to a press release by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Chan will be designated a PSP, under section 48(1) of FICA, which allows the targeting of hostile information campaigns waged by foreign actors.

Chan's case falls under a provision to designate individuals as a PSP, if the activities are directed to its political ends and it is in the public interest for the authorities to apply countermeasures under FICA, Straits Times reported.

MHA said that the registrar assessed that Chan had shown susceptibility to be influenced by unnamed foreign actors, as well as a willingness to advance their interests.

The register also said that Chan’s activities were directed toward a political end in Singapore, therefore it was in the public interest for FICA countermeasures to be applied to Chan.

Always been open

Elaborating on his views, PM Lee said Singapore has always been a very open country, due to our small size.

"That there are people outside who want to influence us, sometimes for the better, sometimes for their own purposes, is also not a new thing," he said.

PM Lee said Singapore had known of "black operations" in the past, and mentioned the cases of the Eastern Sun, the Singapore Herald, and also some Chinese newspapers.

These were examples of foreign players trying to use political individuals in Singapore to influence Singaporeans for their own aims.

The fact that outside actors wish to influence Singaporeans is "nothing new", PM Lee said.

What's new, however, is how such influences can now extend to the "doorstep" and the "bedroom" due to technological advances.

Thanks to the Internet, smartphones and social media, and the high digitalisation of life in Singapore, not to mention Artificial Intelligence, it is now easier to generate fake and misleading content to sway the public.

In response, Singapore enacted FICA as one of the ways to deal with both hostile foreign influence operations, and also operations to use individuals and organisations here for their own purposes.

Difference between the two

PM Lee explained hostile foreign influence operations as a message that appears viral, but in reality is the same message being replicated under a thousand different names.

However, the hostile influence of persons is a bit more complex.

When it happens, that person, either willingly or not, speaks up and acts on behalf of the foreign actor to participate in politics and influence things in Singapore.

"And I think that is improper, that is dangerous. And that is also not hard to do," PM Lee said.

FICA and the PSP designation addresses this issue

Designating someone as a PSP indicates that either they have a "nexus" to Singapore politics, or they have a nexus to a foreign actor.

For the former, it includes local politicians like PM Lee himself, his Cabinet ministers, Members of Parliament (MPs), Opposition MPs and parties like the PAP.

For the latter, they may not be politically active at the moment, but they could become so and pose a problem in the future.

A politically significant person without a foreign connection may not be a threat, but they could fall under the sway of a foreign actor in the future.

"So what do I want to do by declaring you a Politically Significant Person? I want you to declare every year, “These are my foreign connections. These are my foreign sources of money," PM Lee said.

This allows the public to know that such persons are not just advocates who believe in their causes but could possibly be influenced by their foreign connections.

It also helps to dissuade foreign influence, as declaring his links would make him less valuable to foreign actors.

And for the sake of those without such connections, they can declare they are free of foreign influence.

PM Lee made the point that being declared a PSP doesn't mean that one has done something wrong. It's just to put people on notice that they are either politically active or have a foreign nexus.

However, not everyone who just has business dealings in foreign countries would be designated as PSPs.

PM Lee said that one would have to cross a certain threshold, and it would be a judgment call for the MHA to make.

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Image via PM Lee's Instagram and Unsplash