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BEIJING : Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo has said that even as regional countries extend a helping hand to Myanmar and China, they have to accept the autonomy of these countries.
That is because only they know their internal situations better.
Mr Yeo was speaking to reporters at the end of an eight-day official visit to North Korea and China on Saturday.
Even though the disasters in China and Myanmar were of comparable magnitude, Mr Yeo noted that any outside assistance can only be supplementary.
Thus, even though reports coming out from Myanmar were troubling, neighbouring countries must wait for the Myanmar government to indicate what further assistance is needed.
Mr Yeo said, "Many western countries feel that much more should be done and perhaps it should be forced on them, but I don't see how these can be done, because if you try to do that, you make the situation worse and (this) will only increase the suffering of the people in Myanmar."
On China's response to the Sichuan earthquake, Mr Yeo said Beijing was completely on top of the situation.
He said, "Watching first Premier Wen (Jiabao) and President Hu (Jintao) expressing solidarity to the Sichuan people, urging rescue workers on, giving hope to those anxiously waiting for friends and relatives, I believe they will emerge stronger, more united, more resilient from the quake."
But Mr Yeo also noted that China will have to depend on its own efforts, adding it may not necessarily be useful to have too many foreign aid workers in the country.
During his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, they discussed ASEAN's upcoming assistance to Myanmar and Chinese President Hu's recent visit to Japan.
Singapore also sought China's support for the APEC agenda, when the meeting is held in Singapore next year.
On China-Singapore relations, Mr Yeo said Singapore's training of Chinese officials over the past decade had yielded results.
He said China is interested in how Singapore's experience can be tapped in winning support from its urban population.
China is especially interested in Singapore's meet-the-people sessions, so much so that several variations of the sessions have been introduced across China.
That should hardly come as a surprise, given the trend of growing urbanisation in the country. - CNA/ms
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