Just before the president left the ROC, Mr. Goh Chok Tong, First Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, announced that Singapore will follow Indonesia in establishing formal diplomatic relations with the Chinese Communists. Further, the Singapore government also temporarily appointed Lim Kim San to act in place of President Wee, who was being treated for cancer in the hospital.
就在總統出國前，新加坡第一副總理吳作棟接受日本記者訪問，表示星將繼印尼之後，與中共建交；此外，新加坡政府也臨時任命星洲報業控股執行董事主席林金山，代理因腸癌住院的黃金輝總統職務。