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HONG KONG<\/span> \u2013 It is important for Singapore to engage both China and Japan \u2013 which are going through a \u201cdifficult phase\u201d in their relationship \u2013 not just bilaterally, but also in shaping regional affairs, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on March 28.<\/p>\n The two North-east Asian countries are important partners for ASEAN, he noted. <\/p>\n China is ASEAN\u2019s largest trading partner, while Japan is a top investor in the regional grouping. Beyond trade, both countries are key partners in the ASEAN-centred regional architecture. Singapore will take over ASEAN\u2019s rotating chairmanship in 2027. <\/p>\n \u201cFor Singapore, both China and Japan are important partners,\u201d PM Wong said. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is so for Singapore, it is also true for ASEAN, and that is why it is important for us to engage both countries, to deepen our cooperation with them and to engage them actively, not just bilaterally, but also in shaping regional affairs.\u201d <\/p>\n He added: \u201cThat is (Singapore\u2019s) consistent message to both China and Japan, and we have had good visits to both countries, and we continue to welcome constructive engagement and further cooperation with both China and Japan.\u201d <\/p>\n PM Wong was speaking to the Singapore media as he wrapped up his visit to Hainan<\/span><\/a> and Hong Kong from March 25 to 28. He was in Hong Kong<\/span><\/a> after attending China\u2019s annual Boao Forum for Asia conference in Hainan province. <\/p>\n The trip came on the heels of his first official visit to Japan<\/span><\/a> from March 17 to 19. <\/p>\n It was his second visit to China in just nine months, after he made his first official trip there as prime minister in June 2025<\/span><\/a>. <\/p>\n He gave a keynote speech at the Boao Forum\u2019s opening plenary<\/span><\/a>, where he said China plays a critical role in shaping a more resilient global order as the world forges new pathways to cooperate. <\/p>\n While he was in Tokyo a week earlier, Singapore and Japan upgraded their ties to a strategic partnership<\/span><\/a>, with deeper cooperation planned in areas including artificial intelligence and green transition. <\/p>\n PM Wong said the timing of the two trips was not pre-planned. <\/p>\n The trip to Japan was originally scheduled for 2025 but had to be postponed due to scheduling difficulties. <\/p>\n Before his trip to Japan was announced, China had invited him to attend the Boao Forum. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is the 25th anniversary of the Boao Forum, of which we are a founding member,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd I also thought it would be useful for me to visit Hainan, given its development as a free trade port, so I decided to take up the invitation. And as it turns out, the dates were back-to-back. But the timing works out very well.\u201d<\/p>\n Ties between China and Japan have been deteriorating. <\/p>\n In November 2025, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said any Chinese use of force against self-governing Taiwan \u2013 over which Beijing claims sovereignty \u2013 would \u201cconstitute a situation that could threaten Japan\u2019s survival\u201d and therefore justify a military response by Tokyo. Her remarks drew Beijing\u2019s ire. <\/p>\n That same month, PM Wong\u2019s remarks on Singapore\u2019s longstanding position regarding its relationship with Japan, in response to a question posed to him at a Bloomberg forum on China-Japan ties, drew barbs and jibes from Chinese netizens<\/span><\/a>. <\/p>\n Tokyo is set to downgrade ties with Beijing, according to a recent diplomatic report awaiting the Japanese government\u2019s approval in April. <\/p>\n \u201cI recognise fully that China and Japan are going through a difficult phase in their relations,\u201d PM Wong said. <\/p>\n \u201cBut from Singapore\u2019s point of view, we are friends with both China and Japan; for that matter, with America and other major partners.\u201d <\/p>\n Good relations are not a zero-sum affair, he said in Tokyo on March 18 as he made the same point about Singapore\u2019s relations with China and Japan.<\/span><\/a> <\/p>\n