"In war and peace, at the top, people may not want war. At the bottom, things happen and leaders are pulled by mass emotions, particularly in boisterous democracies like India and US," Mr Yeo said.
"China is much more disciplined, they control the media, they can lower public temperature, if they have to. They can raise it, if they need to," he added.
"But in the West and India, sometimes you are led by public emotions. China has to factor this in their own calculations, that others don’t behave like you. Therefore, you must not misread their reactions to your actions."
Mr Yeo said that Mrs Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan could have been prevented if US President Joe Biden was a “stronger leader”.
China considers Taiwan a breakaway province that should be part of its territory under the one-China policy, which the US recognises, with the proviso that the status quo should not be altered without the consent of both parties.
The US adopts an attitude of "strategic ambiguity" as to whether it would intervene to defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion by China.
Political analysts previously told TODAY that China considers Mrs Pelosi’s trip as a form of political intimidation and disrespect to its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Should war break out, as a result, Mr Yeo said that both the US and China know it will be “cataclysmic for the entire world, not just for the two countries”.
This would also leave Singapore in a very tight position, he added.
“To begin with, we have a special relationship with Taiwan. We have people there. I think if I were in Mindef (the Ministry of Defence), I’ll be having contingency planning.”
And as the US has ships and aircraft in Singapore, it will become a question of whether to allow the Western power to continue using the country.
“I’m not in Government, but I have no doubts we have a lot of people spending a lot of time thinking about this, and worrying about this,” he said.
DON'T MAKE JUDGEMENTS ON SNAPSHOTS
On Singapore’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr Yeo said that when there is a “snapshot of a big guy beating up a small guy”, it is natural to feel sympathetic for the victim, particularly so for tiny Singapore.
But the reality is not so simple when viewed in a larger context, he said.
TODAY previously reported that Ukraine, a nation slightly smaller than Myanmar with about 43 million people, wanted to join Nato, a military alliance of 30 countries in Europe and North America, but Russia is concerned that any such move would tip the global power balance against it.
“There was a reason why things happen this way,” Mr Yeo said. “I don’t agree the big guy should react this way, but I can understand when I see the entire video, why the big guy, at a high cost to himself, decides to take this course of action.”
Using another analogy, he said that when there is a motor vehicle accident, it is important to play the entire video, “otherwise, you're forming your judgement based upon a snapshot”.
Mr Yeo was surprised that the Singapore Government issued sanctions against Russia, rather than wait for a decision by the United Nations Security Council, because this “breaches a dangerous precedent”.
“But then the argument is, Russia has the veto power (as a member of the security council)… (and it) will never agree to sanctions against itself. So we had to take a position.”
He added that even if the US did not add pressure on Singapore, “we would have felt the pressure anyway” because of Singapore’s dependence on US in areas such as the financial sector and military hardware.
The question then, was whether Singapore should have gone beyond making strong statements to impose sanctions on Russia.
“And when we decide on sanctions, how broad are the sanctions? I understand our sanctions are quite limited,” he said.
“In the end… I think it was a compromise. They (the Government) didn't want to go too far. But at the same time, to not take a position when something like this happens, we will regret later.
“So finessing it, sometimes, pleases nobody. But doing it more one way or the other may have resulted in greater costs to ourselves.”
OLD LEAVES FALL BACK TO THEIR ROOTS
When TODAY broached the topic of what importance China has to Mr Yeo, he responded that the Chinese have a saying that when the leaves are old, they fall back to their roots.
He spoke about how this was the case for his father, whose “Chinese-ness” grew stronger in his older age, citing an example of how the older man was rooting for the Chinese team during one Olympic Game.
“That’s how he felt. As you grow older, your sense of tradition and your ancestry become stronger.”
When TODAY pointed out that some younger Chinese Singaporeans may identify themselves more strongly with their nationality than ethnicity, Mr Yeo said: “In Singapore, you can say that.
“If you’re a Singaporean Chinese in America, you will feel much more strongly in your Chinese-ness because others see you in your Chinese-ness, and you can’t escape it.”
Mr Yeo was also asked about a video clip he shared in early March this year on his Facebook page by Fox News host Tucker Carlson about claims that the US was funding biological programmes in Ukraine.
In his caption for the post, he merely wrote: “From an unexpected quarter”, which drew criticisms from several segments of the online community since the video clip had been already been found to be false.
Mr Yeo clarified that he was not saying that he agreed with the video’s message, but that he simply found it fascinating because Mr Carlson, “who is normally very anti-China, took China’s side”.
When probed if what Mr Yeo has been saying about China, combined with his posts about the country on social media, might be seen by some as “pro-China”, Mr Yeo did not disagree.
“Well, I accept that. But I hope those people will read my book, and the coming two ones, and then have an overall evaluation of who I am.”