Speech at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Speech at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy

Foreign Minister George Yeo’s speech at a dinner organised by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) on 5 February 2007

Foreign Minister George Yeo was the Guest of Honour at a dinner organised by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) on 5 February 2007 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The dinner was part of the programme for a workshop entitled “The Future of China: Global Perspectives and Strategic Lessons” which was co-sponsored by the LKYSPP and the Brookings Institution. The objective of the 5-6 February workshop held at LKYSPP was to bring together China specialists from the region with a team of international relations policy analysts from Europe and the United States. Participants included Prof. Wang Gangwu of the East Asia Institute at NUS, Prof. Kishore Mahbubani Dean of LKY SPP, Mdm Ton Nu Tinh Ninh of the National Assembly of Vietnam, Mr, Jusuf Wanandi of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, Ivo Daalder and Philip Gordon from the Brookings Institution, Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform in London, Sylvie Kauffmann of Le Monde, Volker Perthes of the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times and Walter Slocombe a former US Under-Secretary of Defence.

The workshop explored how the rise of China is viewed in our part of the world as compared to perceptions in Europe and the United States.

Below is a transcript of Minister Yeo’s speech which he gave off-the-cuff at the dinner.