Morrison meets Singapore PM: ‘We must all learn to live with China’

Singapore’s Prime Minister says China’s ‘substantial presence’ means countries like Australia will have to work with it.

Scott Morrison with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Singapore on Thursday. Picture: Adam Taylor

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says China’s “substantial presence” means countries like Australia will have to work with it, whether it be on interests that align or where mutual co-operation is necessary.

Speaking alongside Scott Morrison after they held a 40-minute one-on-one meeting, Mr Lee said the relationship with China was “one of the biggest foreign policy questions for every major power in the world”.

“You need to work with the country. It is going to be there. It’s going to be a substantial presence,” Mr Lee said. “And you can co-operate with it, you can engage with it, you can negotiate with it, but it has to be a long and mutually constructive process. You don’t have to become like them, neither can you hope to make them become like you. You have to be able to work on that basis.”

Mr Morrison’s brief visit to Singapore to meet Mr Lee at The Istana on Thursday night comes ahead of the G7 summit in Cornwall, where he will advocate the views and ambition of ASEAN leaders.

The leaders also established a $30m partnership to fast-track low emissions fuels and technologies, with Mr Morrison saying it would lead to “more jobs for Australian workers” and “lower costs for businesses”.

Meeting under tight Covid-19 restrictions following recent outbreaks in Singapore, the leaders agreed a travel bubble between the countries would focus initially on pilot programs for students and mutual recognition of digital vaccination certificates.

Two-way travel between the two countries had been in the planning for months, but was derailed following a recent breakout in the city-state.

“We will now work together … and put the infrastructure in place” for a travel bubble, Mr Morrison said. “There is still some time before we reach that milestone but there is nothing impeding us as we discuss getting on with the job of putting systems in place that will enable such a bubble to emerge … as it now occurs between Australia and New Zealand.”

Mr Morrison said Australia would give priority to Singaporean students and he wanted travel to occur “sooner rather than later”.

Mr Lee said vaccination and transmission rates must be “part of the consideration”.

“In Singapore, we are making good progress with our vaccination program,” he said. “Australia also they are steadily vaccinating their population. And I think once the majority of the population is vaccinated it becomes much more easier to contemplate these openings up.

“We need to resume these people-to-people flows to maintain our close and excellent bilateral relationship. We need to prepare the infrastructure and the processes to get ready to do this. And it starts with mutual recognition of vaccination certificates.”

Mr Morrison’s stop in Singapore on the first leg of an eight-day trip taking in Cornwall, London and Paris reflected his focus on ensuring the voices of ASEAN nations are heard on the global stage amid increasing regional tensions.

In the leaders’ statement released following the meeting, Mr Morrison and Mr Lee said they remained committed to maintaining and promoting “peace, security and stability in the region” and the peaceful resolution of disputes, including “full respect for legal and diplomatic processes without resorting to the threat or use of force”.

The statement invoked the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and underlined “Australia and Singapore’s strong support for freedom of navigation, overflight and unimpeded trade in the South China Sea”.

“They also emphasised the importance of non-militarisation of disputed features and self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability,” the statement said.

Mr Morrison and Mr Lee said they shared “concerns on developments in Myanmar and called for an immediate cessation of violence, the release of all political detainees, including foreigners, and inclusive dialogue”.

In addition to new partnerships on low emissions technologies, Mr Morrison and Mr Lee focused on fintech, the digital economy, vaccine diplomacy and delivery, vaccine rollout and vaccine mRNA manufacturing.

The clean energy deal is part of a $565m government commitment to establish global partnerships aimed at making clean emissions technologies more competitive. Each country has committed $10m over five years to fund pilot projects, with at least $10m of extra investment to be leveraged from industry.

The initiative with Singapore will trial the use of clean hydrogen, clean ammonia and other hydrogen derivatives in shipping.

Mr Morrison, who was invited by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to attend the G7 summit in Cornwall as a plus-member alongside India and South Korea, said there was a “lot at stake for Australia, the region and the world”.

In meetings with Mr Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron, following a key NATO summit on Monday that US President Joe Biden will use to reset the focus of the powerful north Atlantic alliance, Mr Morrison will discuss security and strategic challenges in the Indo-Pacific.

He has been asked by G7 leaders to speak at a session titled Building Back Better: Open Societies and Economies, where he is expected to speak to Australia’s experience and the need for like-minded democracies and nations to work together against models promoted by autocratic states.

Mr Morrison said G7-plus ­nations would discuss strengthening preparedness for future pandemics, promoting future prosperity, championing free and fair trade, climate change and “supporting open societies, open economies and the inter­national rules-based order”.

“Importantly, regional security in the Indo-Pacific will be a central part of our discussions.”

Following the G7, Mr Morrison will travel to London for a meeting with Mr Johnson at Downing Street where the pair hope to sign an in-principle agreement on the UK-Australia free-trade deal.