A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Singapore refuted a recent report by the US scholars, saying that its assertions of China imposing influence operations in Singapore are "groundless" and "distorted from truth."

A statement made by the embassy was released on Friday in response to a Straits Times article on July 18 titled "Report flags how China conducts influence operations in Singapore," citing a report published by the Jamestown Foundation of the US. 

The unique historical and cultural links are the natural advantage of advancing relations between the two countries, but they have been used by some people to attack, the statement said.

"As two sovereign countries, China and Singapore are entitled to communicating and cooperating, and no third party should find any excuse to point a finger at normal exchanges," Chen Fengying, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Sunday.

China-Singapore relations have set a good example for friendly cooperation between large and small countries, Su Ge, chairman of the Beijing-based China National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

"Take the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park, for instance. It's the first flagship intergovernmental project between the two countries in the past 25 years to create a manufacturing base," Su noted. 

He noted that the third stage of bilateral cooperation has taken place in Chongqing Municipality in the high-technology domain, aiming at further developing the western areas of China and in Asia. 

Scholars in these two countries have also been exchanging ideas and learning from each other, Su said.  

"Singapore has welcomed the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China and more people-to-people exchanges will facilitate the two countries' in-depth cooperation and development in Asia," Su added.