Opinion | A Singapore quibble highlights why foreign policy debates should be encouraged, not shut down

Former Singapore diplomat Tommy Koh and ex-Straits Times editor Leslie Fong had a Facebook exchange over China policy and the South China Sea

Smaller nations are often wary of such public quarrels over foreign policy, but open debates can help those armed with the facts quash baseless assertions

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Veteran Singaporean diplomat Tommy Koh, who was involved in getting Unclos passed in 1982, used facts to counter unsubstantiated claims made during a Facebook exchange. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:00am, 9 Oct 2020Updated: 9:00am, 9 Oct 2020

A robust, perhaps even caustic, exchange on Facebook last weekend between two prominent Singaporeans over the city state’s China policy had me thinking about foreign policy debates in smaller countries.

More often than not, the view in such nations is that nothing good comes out of public quarrels over these issues.

Foreign policy establishments, whether in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Manila, would much rather that differences are aired and dealt with privately. Doing otherwise is seen as increasing the risk of powerful outside forces manipulating the debate to their advantage.

But surely there is also reason to argue that having such debates out in the open helps those with facts on their side quash facile or baseless assertions.

Take for example the debate between Singapore’s diplomatic doyen Tommy Koh and the former editor of The Straits Times, Leslie Fong.

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