President Barack Obama will host Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for an official visit and state dinner on Aug. 2.
The visit will be the first of its kind since 1985, when President Ronald Reagan invited Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The meeting celebrates a 50-year diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Singapore, which has helped establish 3,500 American companies in Singapore and created better ties between the countries’ militaries.
The two leaders are expected to discuss international challenges and ways to advance a rules-based order for the Asia-Pacific.
But the conversation may be more than just about friendship – on July 8, Humans Rights Watch sent a letter to President Obama highlighting several human rights issues in Singapore. In Singapore, it is a criminal offense for a male to have consensual relations with another male, which carries with it a maximum imprisonment of two years. Routine government censorship of the LGBT community and issues were also among the concerns mentioned.
“President Obama should make it clear to Prime Minister Lee that Singapore’s increasing repression of its own people has not gone unnoticed,” Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson said. “He should call on Singapore to revise laws curtailing free speech and peaceful assembly, and end discrimination against the country’s LGBT community.”
