Singapore PM warns of US-China miscalculation over Taiwan

[SINGAPORE] Tensions over Taiwan risk leading to a miscalculation between the US and China as both nations step up activity around the island, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned.

"We should be concerned," Lee said Wednesday night in an interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait.

"I don't think it's going to war overnight, but it is in a situation where you can have a mishap or a miscalculation and be in a very delicate situation."

The US has significantly boosted engagement with Taiwan, China has increasingly tested the island democracy's air defences and the government in Taipei has taken steps such as printing passports with the name "Taiwan" on them, Lee said.

"All these moves raise suspicions and tensions and anxieties and make it more likely that a mishap or miscalculation can happen," the Singapore leader said. "Everybody says the right thing," he added, "but if you look at what is happening it is not a static situation."

Lee's comments come shortly after US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping concluded their first face-to-face summit, agreeing to continue talking on a range of topics even as they continue to spar over issues like Taiwan.

After reassuring Xi on Monday that the US doesn't take a position on Taiwan's sovereignty, a day later Biden described the island as "independent" to reporters before quickly walking back the comment.

China has often warned that Taiwan's assertion of independence is a red line for an invasion, and repeatedly warned the US to encouraging those who want a clear break with the mainland.

Lee said that it was good that Biden and Xi could meet and "speak frankly" with each other even though all problems wouldn't be resolved in one meeting.

He said that in the US there's now a consensus that Beijing is "a serious problem for them," while many Chinese believe Americans want to slow them down and "stop their emergence."

The Singapore leader also said the US should keep moving forward on trade with Asia even if it's politically unfeasible to re-enter the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 11-nation trade deal that former President Donald Trump exited.

He mentioned the US would still have a role in the region even if China joined the agreement given its allies and investments.

BLOOMBERG