US-China mutual suspicion not to end anytime soon: Singapore PM Lee

Says‘bigtrouble’ forrestoftheworld

SINGAPORE, APR 19 (PTI): The deep mutual suspicion and fundamental distrust between the United States and China will not improve anytime soon and it will mean “big trouble” for the rest of the world, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Wednesday.

Lee, who made an official visit to Beijing earlier this month, said that the Chinese public perception of the US has deteriorated.

China’s leaders are convinced that the US is seeking to “contain, encircle and suppress” China, Lee said, quoting Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“Even if the two powers avoid a direct conflict... enduring enmity and bad relations between them will be very costly for both and will mean big trouble for the rest of the world,” Lee said in Parliament, outlining three major geopolitical tensions that make the current global situation graver than what Singapore has faced in a long time.

Singaporeans need to realise the gravity of the situation, he said. “We are facing not just one storm, but several,” Lee said, updating Singaporeans on the global situation.

While Democrats and Republicans in the US disagree on almost everything, they are united on China. The prevailing view is that efforts to work out a cooperative relationship with Beijing have failed and its growing strength and assertiveness are becoming a grave threat to US interests and values.

Therefore, their view is that the US must go for “extreme competition” with China over technology, including semiconductor chips, quantum technology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and green tech- nologies, Lee was quoted as saying by The Straits Times newspaper. Negative perceptions of China are prevalent among the US population too, Lee said, citing the latest survey by the Pew Research Centre, which found that over 80 per cent of adults in the US have an unfavourable view of China, while nearly 40 per cent would describe China as an enemy of the US rather than as a competitor or partner.

“(The Chinese) say the East is rising, and the West is declining, and they think the time has come for China to take its rightful place in the world,” he said.

Lee added that they consider issues like Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet to be China’s domestic matters that affect its security and integrity and see no room for discussion or compromise on these issues.

“But the most dangerous flashpoint of all is Taiwan,” noted Lee, adding that Singapore rigorously upholds its “One China” policy and continues to support the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.

“China considers Tai-

Urgent action needed for deteriorating air quality in South-Asian countries: ICIMOD

KATHMANDU, APR 19 wan as the most important issue, and the ‘One China’ principle to be the reddest of its red lines. But the Western alternative narrative is gaining currency,” Lee said. He said that the problem in cross-strait relations is a broader ideological issue of democracy versus autocracy, noting it is so even though most countries, including Western countries, have adopted the “One China” policies.

Tensions over Taiwan are high, Lee said, noting how China recently launched three days of extensive military exercises around Taiwan after President Tsai Ing-wen met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during her stopover in the US.

A media report described the exercises as “comprehensive and precise simulated attacks on the key targets in the island and surrounding waters”.

Lee expressed hope that relations between the US and China do not get worse and that both sides continue to keep lines of communication open, gradually repairing their relationship based on mutual respect and trust.

(PTI): Deteriorating air quality and hazardous levels of particulate matter (PM) in several South Asian countries, including India and Nepal, poses a severe risk to human health and must be addressed urgently, a Kathmandu-based intergovernmental knowledge centre warned on Wednesday.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is a knowledge and learning centre working on behalf of the people of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region and its eight regional member countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the organisation pointed to recent data and expressed concern about the rising PM levels. It added that an increase in PM level poses a severe risk to human health, The Kathmandu Post newspaper re Doctors blame the worsening air quality as the main culprit for the rising number of patients suffering from respiratory illness, the report said. Air pollution, known to cause various respiratory illnesses, combined with coronavirus, which primar- ily affects the lungs, could lead to an increase in hospitalisations and even deaths among the people infected with COVID-19, the statement said, quoting experts.

ICIMOD Senior Air Quality Specialist, Dr Bhupesh Adhikary, said that worldwide, air pollution is responsible for more deaths annually than COVID-19 to date. “Despite this catastrophic death toll, we aren’t tackling this invisible killer with anything like the same energy,” Dr Adhikary was quoted as saying in the report. He asserted that it is time to put efforts into improving air quality on a war footing.

“The good news is that we know what is causing air pollution in our region and how to make rapid progress in reducing our exposure to pollutants,” Dr Adhikary said. He urged governments, donors and NGOs to work with ICIMOD to build a coalition to drive action on clean air. “In Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, PM2.5 levels exceeded 205 µg/m3 on April 11, 2023, with PM10 levels reaching a staggering 430 µg/m3 on April 13, 2023. These alarming data points highlight the urgent need for action to address this critical issue,” the statement said. Very unhealthy air quality points to health warnings of emergency conditions, while the entire population is more likely to be affected, the statement said, adding that hazardous levels, on the other hand, call for a health alert and everyone may experience serious health effects. Pointing that rising temperatures are causing glaciers in the region to melt at an alarming rate, the organisation warned that if global warming exceeds 2°C, it will result in the loss of 50 per cent of the glaciers in the region.