>>> we are back with singapore's prime minister, lee hsien loong. carefully. you also follow the debate in the united states. you know there are a lot of people, including our secretary of state, who have said the chinese government is in some way to blame for this pandemic because they were silent about the fact it was happening, they were secretive, they covered it up, they punished the doctor who tried to be kind of a whistle-blower about it. do you think that is a fair criticism of china? >> i'm sure there are many aspects of the chinese response to this outbreak which they will look back upon and believe they should have done betterment but i don't think overall that one can say this would not have happened if only the chinese had done the right thing. because you look at the way the outbreak has continued, grown and spread in many countries, they don't have the chinese government, yet they have not found it easy to keep the outbreak under control in their country. so, i think that we are in a very difficult situation, and it's most constructiv

please join me for a conversation with lee hsien loong, the long-standing prime minister of singaporet in the middle of two big things, you have the u.s.-china relationship or the lack of it. you also have this current tide of nationalism, protectionism. you are unusually open and

were beginning to wonder if they were becoming too reliant on china singapore's prime minister lee hsien loong says because china is a much bigger factor in the region than it used to be his country's economy could dip into recession this year as visitor numbers drop by as much as 30 percent thailand's economy was already stuttering and may also be nearing recession with growth heading for less than 2 percent and vietnam's manufacturing sector depends on a well oiled supply chain from china in january exports fell more than 17 percent but some experts believe the threat extends well beyond this region all countries in the world depends on what action especially in the united states and europe important a lot from china and when china has a problem they will have inflation they're the same thing so that is not. for the world the wealthy may be able to ride it out but it is perhaps tougher for those living on the edge of poverty who could easily slip backwards in the event of a regional or global economic shock in cambodia there are millions in that category and as corona. crisper it in china an