MPs question Lee Jr on Suzhou Park

Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong: We discussed it with them. We negotiated the agreement with the central government in Beijing, and we are aware that the central government made extensive consultations before they committed. The agreement was signed between the Senior Minister (Lee Kuan Yew) and Chinese Vice-Premier Li Lanqing.

Chiam: Is the Suzhou municipal government reneging on their promises then?

Lee: I would not use the phrase, but I would say that the expectations on which we went into the project have not been fulfilled the way we expected them to.

Chiam: We seem to be negotiating with the central government, but the municipal government is the one giving us problems.

Lee: There are many levels of government and authority in their country, and all of them have influence.

We require cooperation from all levels in order for our project to succeed. That is why we have raised the matter not only in Suzhou, but also with the provincial authorities and in Beijing. During his December trip, the Senior Minister raised it with President Jiang Zemin, Vice-Premier Li Lanqing, Jiangsu party secretary Chen Huanyou, governor Zheng Silin and Suzhou city party secretary Yang Xiaotang. So we've covered all bases.

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang): When the Prime Minister visited Suzhou last September, he was reported as satisfied with the progress of the park. But three months later, the Senior Minister gave a different story. Why this discrepancy?

Lee: The park has indeed made significant progress, on the ground, in attracting investments, and in the types and quality of investors. But there have been problems with the conflict of interest between Suzhou New District and the SIP, which we have been discussing with the Chinese authorities for some time.

Low: Did the government foresee these problems?

Lee: When we embark on a project of this scope, we do expect problems to arise. But we could not have foreseen the particular form the problem took. We were astonished to learn that the vice-mayor had gone to Germany and told the special commissioner who is responsible for German-Singapore-China joint projects: "You should not go in with Singapore, come in alone, we don't need Singapore. President Jiang Zemin does not support Suzhou Industrial Park." There was no reason whatsoever for us to anticipate such a startling statement from such a senior official.

Mr Leong Horn Kee (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC): Since Mr Jiang's reaffirmation of support, do you see signs that the municipal government is now toeing the line?"

Lee: We are in contact with them. We are now studying the problem in order to have a considered, mature response which we will convey to the Chinese side as our view of how to deal with this problem. We expect the Chinese side to study that and give us their response in due course.

Mr Inderjit Singh (Ang Mo Kio GRC): If the problem cannot be solved, what is the next step?

Lee: President Jiang Zemin has given his full support to resolving the problem. Singapore too is fully committed to the success of SIP.

Low: How will you rate the risks of the SIP investment in the medium term and long term, on a scale of one to 10?

Lee: I am neither Moody's, or Standard & Poor's.

Published in the Straits Times. January 15, 1998