Watch This | Kishore Mahbubani: Taiwan is a pawn in game of chess, people should be conscious of US's true objectives

Kishore Mahbubani, former Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations and currently a Distinguished Fellow of the Asian Research Institute at the National University of Singapore delivered a keynote address entitled "Can China Outcompete the U.S.?" in a presentation in Hong Kong on April 25.

Is a war inevitable at the end of the Sino-US rivalry? In his speech, Mahbubani said that war between the US and China is unlikely to break out, but the only exception is when the red line on Taiwan is touched. "The day after Taiwan declares independence for whatever reason, China will declare war. 100% certainty. No Chinese leader, after China's century of humiliation, can see the permanent secession of Taiwan from China."

Mahbubani described the Taiwan question as a game of chess in which Taiwan is just a pawn in a geopolitical game that can easily be sacrificed. "The Taiwan question is like a game of chess. In a game of chess, you easily sacrifice a pawn if the US gives you an advantage." He reminded the people of Taiwan to be conscious of the US' true objectives and not to be reduced to cannon fodder in this political firefight.