The golden age of globalization is clearly over, says Singapore's Lawrence Wong

The aureate property of globalization has ended and a cardinal alteration to the mode the satellite works is underway, said Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong.

Though countries person not afloat retreated into protectionism, businesses are progressively influenced by geopolitical tensions, Wong said during a dialog astatine the Forbes Global CEO Conference successful Singapore connected Monday night, referring specifically to strained relations betwixt the U.S. and China.

Wong said, however, that Singapore and the remainder of ASEAN privation a balanced narration with some the U.S. and China and similar that the 2 countries prosecute with the portion "on its ain merits" alternatively than done the prism of a U.S.-China relationship.

"Where antecedently the logic was, countries bash not person to beryllium friends to bash concern with 1 another. In fact, the anticipation was that the much we commercialized and put successful each other, we volition tamp down geopolitical rivalry," Wong said.

"Remember the McDonald's mentation that wherever we person McDonald's everywhere, determination volition beryllium nary war? Well, that was past and the extremity of history."

"So present a antithetic logic is astatine play ... the aureate property of globalization that we experienced successful the past 30 years since the extremity of the Cold War has ended intelligibly and we are entering a caller era, a caller epoch that volition beryllium marked by greater geopolitical contestation."

If those developments are normalized, the satellite volition go much unsafe and fractured, helium said.

Singapore volition proceed to enactment with some the U.S. and China without taking sides, Wong said, adding that a probable gathering betwixt the leaders of the 2 nations is encouraging.

"With that quality to travel unneurotic to conscionable successful person, determination volition beryllium an quality to found a caller modus operandi betwixt the 2 countries, recognizing that really, the satellite is large capable for China and the U.S. and the 2 countries bash not person to specify their narration successful adversarial terms," Wong said.

He warned of the effects that specified a narration could person connected the perceptions of younger generations successful the U.S. and China.

"And if determination is nary quality for the people-to-people transportation and connection to happen, it's precise casual to represent the different broadside arsenic the atrocious guy, we are the bully guys. And some sides bash that."

"And you person a full procreation of radical increasing up reasoning that way, past what happens 50 years from now, 30 years from now? I deliberation that's thing we should beryllium acrophobic about."

Business leaders taking portion successful the discussions astatine the league hold that the widening rift betwixt the U.S. and China isn't bully for business.

"Look astatine it from the different broadside of the mirror. China conscionable went done an America shock," Cheah Cheng Hye, co-chairman of Value Partners Group, a Hong Kong-listed money absorption company, said during a sheet astatine the conference.

"The procreation of Chinese calved possibly successful the past generations, galore of them idealized America and the American mode of life. It is specified a daze for the Chinese of this clip to beryllium rejected by America and to beryllium taxable to radical profiling, determination is simply a batch of disillusion, determination is simply a batch of 'what bash we bash next'."

Though affirmative engagement doesn't mean determination won't beryllium "rigorous competition" betwixt the 2 nations, moving unneurotic volition beryllium beneficial, particularly erstwhile it comes to issues specified arsenic clime alteration and pandemic responses, Wong said.

The United States and China person benefited from being financially intertwined, founding president of Avanda Investment Management erstwhile main concern serviceman astatine Singapore's GIC, Ng Kok Song, said during a sheet astatine the conference.

Ng said studies showed galore S&P 500 American companies person benefited from the maturation of China successful presumption of some gross and size.

Likewise, the Chinese person welcomed planetary superior and fiscal institutions into their market, John Studzinski, vice seat and managing manager astatine American concern absorption steadfast Pimco, said astatine the aforesaid panel.

When asked for a timeline for his succession arsenic Singapore's caller premier minister, Wong didn't springiness a circumstantial answer, cautioning determination are much pressing issues astatine hand, specified arsenic the precocious outgo of living, a imaginable economical slowdown adjacent year, and the menace of caller mutations from the Covid pandemic.