LKYSPP academic identified as ‘agent of influence’ of foreign country, PR status revoked

SINGAPORE — The Government has revoked the permanent residence status of academic Huang Jing, a Lee Foundation Professor on US-China relations at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), who has been identified as an “agent of influence of a foreign country”.

Prof Huang’s wife, Ms Shirley Yang Xiuping, also got her permanent residence revoked on Friday. The couple, who are United States citizens, will not be allowed to re-enter Singapore.

Professor Huang “knowingly interacted” with intelligence organisations and agents of the foreign country and co-operated with them to influence the Republic’s foreign policy and public opinion here, said the Home Affairs Ministry (MHA) in a statement on Friday (Aug 4), without naming the country in question.

“To this end, he engaged prominent and influential Singaporeans and gave them what he claimed was ‘privileged information’ about the foreign country, so as to influence their opinions in favour of that country. Huang also recruited others in aid of his operations,” the MHA said.

The Controller of Immigration acted after Prof Huang was deemed an “undesirable immigrant” under the Immigration Act, for engaging in activities contrary to the Republic’s national interests, the ministry said.

Ms Yang was aware that Prof Huang was acting through his senior position at the LKYSPP — where he was director of the Centre on Asia and Globalisation — to advance the agenda of a foreign country, said the MHA. She was declared a “prohibited immigrant” under the Act as she is Huang’s family member.

Prof Huang used his senior position in the LKYSPP to “deliberately and covertly advance the agenda of a foreign country at Singapore’s expense”, said the ministry.

“He did this in collaboration with foreign intelligence agents. This amounts to subversion and foreign interference in Singapore’s domestic politics. Huang’s continued presence in Singapore, and that of his wife, are therefore undesirable. Both will be permanently banned from re-entering Singapore,” it added.

‘PRIVILEGED INFORMATION’

The MHA highlighted an instance where Prof Huang gave “supposedly ‘privileged information’” to an unnamed senior member of the LKYSPP, in order that it could be conveyed to the Government — a “clear intention” to influence the Government to change tack on foreign policy.

“The information was duly conveyed by that senior member of the LKYSPP to very senior public officials who were in a position to direct Singapore’s foreign policy... However, the (Government) declined to act on the ‘privileged information’,” said the MHA.

Prof Huang, who got a PhD in Political Science from Harvard’s Department of Government, had researched and authored books, as well as journal articles, on Chinese politics, China-India relations, territorial disputes in South China Sea and security issues in Asia-Pacific, among other topics.

In the past year, he had written extensively for The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao, and foreign publications, including the Global Times, on US-China relations and China’s role in the world.

SUSPENDED WITHOUT PAY

In response to media queries,  a spokesperson from the National University of Singapore (NUS) said Prof Huang has been suspended without pay with immediate effect, adding that his employment with the school was dependent on permits which have been cancelled by the MHA.

The NUS spokesperson added: “This is a matter of serious concern, and LKYSPP is cooperating fully with MHA. NUS does not tolerate such acts of foreign interference, even as we continue to value and uphold the diverse and international character of our University.

"As this matter relates to national security, the University is unable to comment on the details of the case.”

Prior to MHA’s statement, Prof Huang was reportedly involved in a spat with a taxi driver in June last year, where the police was called in. He had the driver to step out of the vehicle and open the door for him, as a way of showing respect to him. When the driver refused, Prof Huang apparently lodged a complaint with the driver’s company, while the driver called the police.

On Wednesday, allegations that Prof Huang was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a research assistant surfaced on social media. The All Singapore Stuff website quoted a school spokesperson saying that it was looking into the matter — this was confirmed by the NUS spokesperson speaking to TODAY on Friday. However, the NUS spokesperson declined to comment further.

When approached, the US Embassy in Singapore said it was aware of the press statement from MHA, as well as media reports on Prof Huang. "We have no further information to share due to privacy considerations," added Ms Camille Dawson, a spokesperson for the embassy.

‘FOREIGN INFLUENCE CAMPAIGNS’

On Tuesday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing had urged Singaporeans to be vigilant about what they read or hear, cautioning that as with other small states, the Republic is not immune from foreign interference from larger and more powerful states in domestic politics and electoral processes.

A “discerning electorate” that is aware of the existence of “foreign influence campaigns” is critical in guarding against external influences, and protecting the integrity of the electoral process, he said in Parliament.

These influences take many forms, Mr Chan added, including “surreptitious contributions, which can be seemingly harmless donations to unsuspecting Singaporeans or local organisations, so that influence and pressure can be exerted over them”.

Given the Republic’s “small size, openness and relatively short history”, it is harder to “mitigate the external influences on our systems”, he said.

He also outlined some of the steps that the Government has taken to guard against foreign interference. For instance, the Public Order Act was amended this year to give the police powers to reject applications to hold assemblies and processions, or involving the participation of, foreigners or foreign groups and directed towards political ends.