A Conversation with Ambassador Lui Tuck Yew of Singapore

Join us for a fireside chat between Ambassador Lui Tuck Yew and Ambassador Nicholas Burns. The conversation will explore Singapore’s role amid intensifying U.S.–China competition and consider the broader forces shaping today’s international landscape.

Location: Rubenstein 414-AB Democracy Lab

Amb Lui Tuck Yew was appointed Singapore’s Ambassador to the United States in June 2023, after serving as Ambassador to China (2019–2023) and Japan (2017–2019). He was Minister for Transport (2011–2015), concurrently Second Minister for Foreign Affairs (2011–2012) and Defense (2015), and Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (2009–2011). First elected to Parliament in 2006, he served as Senior Minister of State until 2009. A Singapore Armed Forces scholar, Amb Lui rose to Chief of Navy in 1999. He later served as Chief Executive of the Maritime and Port Authority (2003) and CEO of the Housing and Development Board (2005). He has degrees from University of Cambridge, Trinity College United Kingdom, and Tufts University, and he was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) (Military) in 1993, the Public Administration Medal (Gold) (Military) in 2000, and the Long Service Medal in 2005.

Ambassador Nicholas Burns is a Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations at the Kennedy School and the Founder and Faculty Chair of the Program on Diplomacy and Statecraft. Burns served as the U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China from 2021-2025.