By any global measure, a prime minister of Singapore presides over a minuscule patch of earth and speaks for a tiny fraction of the world’s population. Yet notwithstanding the city-state’s small size-or maybe because of it-its prime ministers often have a keener grasp of American interests than Americans do.
So it’s no surprise that Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s current prime minister, would come right to the point in a meeting with The Wall Street Journal editorial board.
When asked for his take on the Obama administration’s unratified Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, which neither the leading Democratic nor Republican candidate for president supports, he answered this way:
“You have an administration which understands America’s international responsibilities and interests, but you have a population which is anxious, tired, and doesn’t want to bear any burden and pay any price. And that’s very difficult for whoever becomes president.”
The TPP is a trade deal with 11 other Pacific nations that would cut tariffs on American goods and services, improve intellectual property rights, and help write the trade and investment rules for an area that is home to about 40 per cent of global economic output.
The agreement notably does not include China. There’s an irony here, because at a moment when trade opponents in the US are hollering that these deals are always stacked against Uncle Sam, China’s leaders fear the opposite is true with TPP. They believe, Mr. Lee says, “that you are trying to create rules which will favour you.”
Read the full article here
OTHER WSJ.COM STORIES:
– Trump and His Debts: A Narrow Escape
– Saudi Women Made History – But Still Have a Long Way To Go
