Singapore will feel ‘spillover’ effect of growing US-China tensions but won’t be a ‘proxy’: foreign minister

The spy balloon episode was a ‘setback’ to relations between the superpowers, Vivian Balakrishnan says, although both sides have recognised the need to keep communication channels open
Even as mutual suspicion between the US and China deepens, Singapore will not be a ‘proxy or a stalking horse for any superpower’, Balakrishnan says

Singapore

Dewey Simin SingaporeandKimberly Lim

Published: 5:30pm, 27 Feb 2023

Why you can trust SCMP

Singapore’s top diplomat on Monday offered a bleak outlook for ties between the United States and China, warning that the recent shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon had “exacerbated suspicions and tensions”.

The episode was a “setback” to bilateral interactions between the superpowers but nonetheless, the meeting between China’s Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the Munich Security Dialogue signalled that both sides recognised the need to keep communication channels open, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said.

“Both sides wish to avoid conflict and neither side can afford to be seen as weak,” he told lawmakers in parliament during a budget debate. “The balloon incident reflected this dynamic. It exacerbated suspicions and tensions amidst strong domestic reactions on both sides.”

Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan pointed out that there had been a hardening of negative views in both countries. Photo: AP

Balakrishnan pointed out that there had been a hardening of negative views in both countries. In the US, more people increasingly saw Beijing as the US’ sole competitor and that China intended to reshape the international order. And in China, the US is viewed as “a superpower on terminal decline which is determined to contain China’s rise at all costs”.

The world’s two largest economies have been locked in a strategic competition including on the trade and technological front, which could deepen tensions and heighten mutual suspicions.

“These have profound implications for the rest of the world. There is a real risk that the steps taken by the US and China to reduce their mutual interdependence will adversely affect the global economy and Singapore will not escape such spillover consequences,” Balakrishnan added.

01:44

A first in 2 years: top economic officials from US and China meet face to face

The Taiwan Strait, in particular, had become a “more dangerous flashpoint”, with missteps or mishaps likely to trigger a “cycle of tit-for-tat actions and reactions that spiral dangerously out of control”.

A conflict over self-ruled Taiwan – which Beijing views as a renegade province awaiting reunification with the mainland – would have a much more direct impact on Singapore, he said.

Amid rising great power contestation, the Singapore minister made clear that the country should not be treated as a “vassal state that can be bullied or bought”.

“We will not be a proxy or a stalking horse for any superpower,” he said. “We have repeatedly stressed to both the US and China that Singapore, and indeed the countries in our region, want to maintain good relations with both countries. We do not wish to be forced to choose sides.”

China-US ties: will spy balloon fallout bring ‘instability’ to Southeast Asia?

Singapore leaders have consistently held the view that countries in Southeast Asia should not be forced to take sides as the US-China rivalry deepens. But as tensions between the two powers run high, Singapore lawmakers have questioned if it would be a growing challenge for the republic to maintain such a position.

While Singapore has deep ties with both the US and China, Balakrishnan acknowledged that the city state would not be able to bring them together.

“I do not have the luxury of saying one thing in Beijing and a different thing in Washington. Both … know that when we analyse a situation and we take a position, it is not for one side or the other,” he said. “We call it the way we see it as a tiny city state.”

During the debate on Monday that lasted over two hours, Balakrishnan also touched on Singapore’s view towards global and regional issues, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which last week crossed its one-year mark.

02:45

One year on: Ukrainian war survivors struggle in the ruins of Mariupol

He stressed that Russia’s actions were a “a clear and egregious violation of international law” and that it set a “very dangerous precedent that jeopardises the security and existence of small states”.

Singapore is the sole Southeast Asian nation to have joined Western nations in imposing sanctions on Russia following the invasion in February last year.

Fielding questions about the city state’s ties with its closest neighbour Malaysia, Balakrishnan described Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to Singapore last month as “fruitful”, having signed agreements in areas like personal data protection, cybersecurity and digital and green economy.

Anwar’s one-day trip to Singapore was his first since he was sworn in as prime minister last November.

Anwar’s visit signals Malaysia-Singapore ties remain on an even keel

Ties between Singapore and Malaysia remained strong but there have been occasional frictions involving Pedra Branca, a small island located where the Singapore Strait meets the South China Sea.

The International Court of Justice in 2008 ruled that Singapore had sovereignty over the rocky outcrop, but the issue resurfaced late last year after Malaysia’s attorney general asked Anwar to clarify the country’s claims over Pedra Branca.

Balakrishnan on Monday noted development works on the island – which were earlier suspended to facilitate discussions with Malaysia and now paused due to the monsoon season – were “fully in accordance with international law and Singapore sovereignty over the island and its waters”.

The works were needed to enhance maritime safety and security and to improve the search and rescue capabilities in that area.

“We will manage our differences constructively and pragmatically and not allow any single issue to overshadow the entire relationship,” he said.