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Exclusive | K Shanmugam Q&A: influential Singapore minister on US-China tensions, financial hub rivalries and the wealth gap
- This is the first part of a wide-ranging exclusive interview for This Week in Asia with Singapore’s minister for home affairs and law
- In this section, he touches on China’s ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine, the prospect of war in East Asia, and the enduring nature of Singapore’s social compact
Reading Time:9 minutes
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With 35 years of service as an MP – under three different prime ministers – Singapore’s Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam is one of the city state’s most influential political figures.
The only parliamentarian with a longer tenure is Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 71.
In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with This Week in Asia, Shanmugam talked about the state of global geopolitics, Singapore’s wealth gap, its tough anti-drug stance and his own future as the country prepares for a leadership transition.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the Post’s China Conference: Southeast Asia in late March. In a keynote address at the event, he said growth opportunities would remain plentiful for Asia if geopolitical tensions were well-managed through “responsible leadership by all sides”.
Earlier in March, the former foreign minister made another keynote speech on the competing ideological narratives around the Ukraine-Russia conflict that became a talking point in foreign policy circles.
This is an edited transcript of the first part of the interview.
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