NDR 2022: PM Lee urges vigilance on social media messages to guard against hostile foreign influence operations

SINGAPORE — Not all information spread on social media is “true and credible” because some messages have the ulterior aim of persuading the recipient to take sides, or eroding their trust in the Government, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

"Therefore, we must be vigilant when we read these messages," Mr Lee said during the Chinese segment of his National Day Rally speech on Sunday (Aug 21).

"We must actively guard against hostile foreign influence operations, regardless of where they originate."

Mr Lee made his comments in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, where Singapore "took a strong stand and condemned Russia" given that Singapore believes in the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.

Mr Lee said: “Nowadays on social media — for example, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, WeChat — you get all sorts of information. We may think that all the information is true and credible.

He noted that messages had been disseminated in both Chinese and English, which aimed to “stir up strong anti-American sentiments”.

There were also similar attempts aimed to discredit Russia and China, in the hopes of influencing people to side with the West.

He then cautioned Singaporeans to question the origins and the intentions of such messages, and re-think if it is necessary to share such messages with friends.

“Please check the facts and do not accept all the information as truths.” 

Only by actively guarding against hostile foreign influence operations "can we safeguard the sovereignty and independence of our nation”, he added.

‘MIGHT IS NOT RIGHT’

On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Mr Lee said: “When the war in Ukraine started, Singapore took a strong stand and condemned Russia... but some have asked, 'Why offend Russia? Why side with the US? Why stick our necks out?'”

Mr Lee said that it is not an issue of taking sides. Rather, it is about not being ambiguous, but being firm in Singapore’s position and defending fundamental principles robustly.

“We believe the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, big or small, must be respected. These principles are existential for all nations, but especially so for a small nation like Singapore.”

He added that Singapore has “consistently opposed the approach of 'might is right'”, and cited examples of how it voted against the United States when it invaded the Caribbean country of Grenada in 1983.

In the same vein, Singapore also “strongly opposed” the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1978.

“If we do not stand firm and take a clear stand on the Ukraine crisis, should Singapore be invaded one day, no one will speak up for us,” he said.

Mr Lee then went on to explain why certain countries took the position they did when the United Nations voted on the resolution deploring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

India abstained due to its frictions with China and, so, needed to maintain friendly relations with Russia for the purposes of buying military equipment.

China similarly abstained because it viewed the war through the lens of its troubled relationship with the US and believed that the latter “will not be grateful” even if it did oppose Russia’s actions.

Some Chinese commentators, he said, even feel that the US will re-focus its efforts on China and lock horns with it, after the US has dealt with Russia.

“After all, some Americans have framed the Ukraine crisis as a war between democracy and autocracy. As a result, China is even more unwilling to compromise its ‘limitless’ strategic relationship with Russia.”

Within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Mr Lee said that Vietnam and Laos abstained due to their close relations with Russia dating back to the Soviet era.

The remaining Asean members voted for the resolution, but never named Russia in their statements because “none of them is the smallest nation in Asean” and do not feel as vulnerable as Singapore.

“Singapore is the smallest nation in Asean, and our interests and considerations are naturally different from the others,” Mr Lee said, adding that this is the reason it not only condemned Russia’s invasion, but imposed targeted sanctions on it.

"I am heartened that most Singaporeans support the Government's position on the war in Ukraine, including Chinese Singaporeans who are active on Chinese-language social media," he said.

"Our Chinese community is clear about national interests, because we have developed a deeper sense of national identity and great confidence in our culture."

CULTURAL PRESERVATION

Mr Lee went on to speak about the importance of Chinese cultural preservation and about how the Chinese community has a “strong sense of local identity”.

This is shown through means such as artwork embedded with “local flavour”, or unique local Chinese terms, many of which are not used in the same way in other Chinese societies, he noted.

To study the evolution of Singapore Chinese culture, Mr Lee announced on Sunday that the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre plans to set up a dedicated research unit this year to do so.

“The Government is supportive of this move,” he said. “Chinese Singaporeans have sunk their roots here in Singapore and have our own unique stories to tell. Let’s tell our stories well.”