Politics suspected in cancelled Singapore festival in Shanghai

Asian Economic News, July 19, 2004

SHANGHAI, July 18 Kyodo

A Singapore-related fair that was scheduled to kick off at the end of this month in Shanghai has been canceled, possibly for political reasons, Singaporean sources said Sunday.

The inaugural Singapore Fair organized by a Singapore company was set to start July 28 in a sports center in the city's Pudong District. The Shanghai area has China's highest concentration of Singaporean expats.

According to a headline in the Oriental Morning Post this week, the Pudong District cancelled the fair after earlier approving it.

It cited as a reason for the cancellation concerns over inconveniencing residents' exercise routines by the fair's occupying the sports center for as long as three months.

Some Singaporeans in Shanghai suspect political influence. On Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry slammed Singapore over Deputy Prime Minister and prime minister-designate Lee Hsien Loong's unofficial visit to Taiwan earlier this month.

China regards the self-ruled island as a renegade province that should not receive visits from foreign leaders.

A separate fair for food and culture also set to begin around the same time in the Pudong District and sponsored by the Shanghai Tourism Board was cancelled ''for commercial reasons,'' said Huang Wooi Teik, president of the Shanghai Singapore Business Association.

Organizers, including Singapore-based businesses in Shanghai, lacked the time to promote the event, so they cancelled it earlier this month, Huang said.