{"id":89144,"date":"2024-09-20T06:00:11","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T20:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=89144"},"modified":"2024-09-20T09:43:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T23:43:27","slug":"who-is-singapores-bestie-the-answer-might-suprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/who-is-singapores-bestie-the-answer-might-suprise\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Singapore’s bestie? The answer might surprise"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure>\n

Which country is Singapore\u2019s \u2018special and most-trusted partner\u2019, according to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong? For a globally networked city state that excels<\/a> in \u2018multi-alignment\u2019 and spurns formal alliances, the crop of potential candidates is abundant. But the answer may surprise.<\/p>\n

The answer matters because Singapore is widely seen as a strategic bellwether, a place from which to assess the direction the geopolitical winds are blowing. It is a significant source of military capability, capital and technology within Southeast Asia, a region that is palpably experiencing geopolitical stresses. The identity of the country that the city state trusts the most should therefore be of interest to more than just its 5.6 million inhabitants.<\/p>\n

Could it be China, for example? Singapore prides itself on its close partnership with the People\u2019s Republic, recently highlighted by Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan\u2019s upbeat description of Singapore and China as \u2018two forces for stability<\/a>\u2019, whose relations are a \u2018bright spot\u2019 in a volatile world.\u00a0 Then again, Beijing isn\u2019t always so flattering or obliging. In 2010, China\u2019s then Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi famously told<\/a> his Singaporean counterpart that, \u2018China is a big country and other countries are small countries, and that\u2019s just a fact.\u2019<\/p>\n

As if to prove the point indirectly, in 2016, Hong Kong\u2019s customs authorities impounded<\/a> some of Singapore\u2019s military vehicles as they transited through the port on the way back from exercises in Taiwan\u2014a coercive move widely attributed to Beijing. There is also former Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew\u2019s timeless advice that Singapore should beware of being taken for a Chinese proxy. It\u2019s a warning that remains pertinent as Beijing increasingly throws its weight around in Southeast Asia, even though the region\u2019s elites appear won over.<\/p>\n

Then how about the US? Washington\u2019s deep defence and security bonds with Singapore give it a comparative edge over Beijing. Singapore invests heavily in the US, while corporate America is densely represented, with 6,000 US companies<\/a> headquartered in the city state. Yet it goes against Singapore\u2019s DNA to side with one major power over another, especially when their competition is hotting up and turning zero sum. Democracy is not necessarily in the US\u2019s favour either, when Singaporeans perceive America\u2019s politics as driving polarisation at home and unpredictability abroad. Diplomatic equidistance therefore remains the name of Singapore\u2019s US-China game.<\/p>\n

Australia might think it has a decent shout. The ground-breaking 2016 comprehensive strategic partnership<\/a> will next year be upgraded to new heights of policy co-operation. Australia has the closest two-way defence relationship with Singapore after the US. Access for Australian forces to Singaporean facilities is underpinned by the Five Power Defence Arrangements, while Singapore trains its armed forces in Australia on an unparalleled and expanding<\/a> scale, and pays Canberra for the privilege. Singapore sources energy, food and other vital commodities in large volumes from down under, and reciprocates as an exporter of refined fuels and economic gateway for Australian businesses. Australia and Singapore are more interpersonally intertwined than many regional partners. Close but no cigar, mate.<\/p>\n

Taiwan and Singapore once enjoyed exceptionally close government-to-government ties. Singapore maintains a discreet military training relationship through the Starlight Program<\/a>. But Taiwan\u2019s star in Singapore is waning, outshone in international status by a rising China that aims to eclipse Taipei.<\/p>\n

What of special friends further afield? Singapore values its British heritage more than many Commonwealth countries, in spite of Britain\u2019s chequered history as the island\u2019s former security guarantor. But only so far. Germany is probably Singapore\u2019s favourite European economic partner and defence supplier. But it is too far away to win the accolade of being the city state\u2019s preferred partner.<\/p>\n

Israel could be considered a long-range contender. From independence, in 1965, Singapore studiously modelled its defence strategy on the Israeli experience. Israeli defence advisers flew to Singapore under the guise of being \u2018Mexicans<\/a>\u2019, while Singaporean tank crews trained secretly in the Negev desert. But Wong wasn\u2019t describing Israel either.<\/p>\n

Nor was he describing Japan, India<\/a>, South Korea, or even New Zealand\u2014however popular Kiwis are in the \u2018Red Dot\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Which leaves Singapore\u2019s fellow ASEAN members. It can\u2019t be Malaysia, obviously. The inter-familial bonds there are too close for comfort. Likewise, Indonesia is a stone\u2019s throw away. There\u2019s too much neighbourly baggage and troublesome proximity from both of these countries for real trust to develop. Thailand perhaps, or Vietnam? No dice there.<\/p>\n

Singapore\u2019s special and most-trusted partner is in fact the small Southeast Asian sultanate, Brunei<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While Brunei appears starkly different to cosmopolitan Singapore\u2014physically, socially and politically\u2014their congruent interests and strategic outlook heave into view on closer inspection. Brunei is another small state, which shares the island of Borneo with Malaysia and Indonesia. It\u2019s far enough away to pose no threat to Singapore, yet close enough to share the neighbourhood dynamics. Singapore\u2019s networks extend globally, but its threat perceptions are more localised.<\/p>\n

Singapore and Brunei co-operate closely in foreign policy and hold similar positions on important issues, including freedom of navigation. Defence<\/a> and finance links are particularly well developed: Singapore conducts jungle warfare training in Brunei\u2019s eastern district, Temburong, where Wong himself served. Since 1967, Singapore and Brunei have operated a mutually stabilising interchangeable currency agreement,<\/a> the only arrangement of its kind within ASEAN. Brunei\u2019s stock of hydrocarbon-funded investment in Singapore is considerable. Leadership ties are cultivated assiduously. It has become a tradition that Singapore\u2019s prime ministers and presidents make Brunei their first overseas visit, while the long-reigning Sultan and his heir are regular callers to the city state.<\/p>\n

It’s easy to overlook Singapore\u2019s all-weather relationship with Brunei, as one bilateral strand in Southeast Asia\u2019s burgeoning international relations. But its conspicuous endurance and depth is worth reflecting on. As with politics, geopolitics has a strong local dimension too. In designating Brunei as its most-trusted partner, Singapore perceives not simply an echo of its strategic circumstances but a not-too-distant reflection of itself.<\/p>\n

The problem for Singapore is that Brunei counts negligibly in the strategic balance. In normal times, this would matter less, but with the Indo-Pacific in a heightened state of tension and Southeast Asia at its epicentre, Singapore\u2019s exquisitely balanced brand of non-alignment appears less tenable as a strategy, as the fence becomes an increasingly uncomfortable place to sit.<\/p>\n

The city state\u2019s cozy, low-risk relationship with Brunei has a comparison point in Australia\u2019s strategic debate, where some\u2014like Trade Minister Don Farrell<\/a>\u2014judge New Zealand to be their closest ally. However, for Singapore and Australia alike, the partner that is most comfortable to deal with is not necessarily their most important international relationship for the challenges ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Which country is Singapore\u2019s \u2018special and most-trusted partner\u2019, according to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong? For a globally networked city state that excels in \u2018multi-alignment\u2019 and spurns formal alliances, the crop of potential candidates is abundant. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":89148,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[189,772,56,50,25],"class_list":["post-89144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-asean","tag-geopolitics","tag-indo-pacific","tag-singapore","tag-southeast-asia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWho is Singapore's bestie? 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