Chan Chun Sing: 'Incumbent upon' China to use every opportunity, including Shangri-La Dialogue, to help others understand its stance

"It is in the interest of all of us to work with China, and it is also in the interest of China to work with everyone else in the world," said Singapore's Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Jun. 1.

“If China perceives that the world does not respect China sufficiently, or do not understand China sufficiently, then it is incumbent upon China to use every opportunity possible, including the Shangri-La Dialogue, to get its voice heard, to make clear its stance, and to help others to understand why it’s doing what it is doing.”

Chan was responding to the prologue of a question posed by senior colonel Lu Yin, professor at the PLA’s National Defence University, who asked what he believed were the respective roles of different countries in this region—big or small, Asean or non-Asean—in stabilising the development-oriented situation in the Asia Pacific.

Lu had said before asking her "question on cooperation" that her question might not be "appropriate" at Shangri-La Dialogue, saying that other countries had been "labelling China, blaming China, verbally attacking China" during the dialogue. She then continued by saying "no matter how China is misinterpreted, China will develop in its peaceful way."

Chan said it was a dangerous situation if either side misinterprets, miscalculates, or misrepresents the other's position, and urged countries to have more opportunities for people from different nations to meet:

"I would encourage both China and the rest of the world to have more dialogues, to create more opportunities for people to meet, especially the younger generation, for them to meet and to build trust, to deeply understand one another."

"We continue to welcome China's participation in future dialogues": Chan

In an interview with the media on the second day of the Shangri-La Dialogue on May 31, Chan highlighted the importance of engaging China to minimise chances of misunderstanding or misreading of each other's intent.

Chan also encouraged his counterparts to continue reaching out to China.

"I can't speak for China, but I'm sure the Chinese will have their own considerations as to when they would like, which level of representation, for which dialogue. So we continue to welcome China's participation in future dialogues, and even on the sidelines, I encourage all my fellow counterparts, all my fellow Defence Ministers, that notwithstanding China's absence, we should continue to reach out to China.

And I'm sure China, in its own time, will also want to reach out to the rest of the world, because I think it's important for all sides to try to reach out to one another, to better understand one another, so that we minimise the chances of misunderstanding or misreading of each other's intent"

Top image via The International Institute for Strategic Studies/YouTube