"W E WISH to have another Lee Kuan Yew but this is
impossible. Many countries have to wait for generations before they see a Lee
Kuan Yew, we are already very lucky." These were remarks made by Singapore
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a recent live television show, Ask the Prime
Minister.
In the hour-long programme, he also talked about Singapore
welcoming its 50th year of nationhood in two years' time. He said that 50 years
in a country's history is not considered long but the 50 years of Singapore's
foundation as a nation had profound effects. Singapore's commercial vibrancy
and political image as transparent, clean and efficient, as well as its unique
foreign policy philosophy, has been examined by scholars from many countries.
Some praise Singapore as enjoying influence far beyond their
own countries'; others are unhappy that Singapore holds an ambivalent attitude
towards Japan despite being invaded by imperialist Japan in the past. Others
say that Singapore's philosophy of practicality has led it to "chase"
China economically but "softly balance" China militarily and
politically. But to Singapore, which once boasted that it was a "poisonous
shrimp", the most pragmatic strategy was to co-exist with the big fish in
the international arena.
As a tropical city-state, Singapore lacks geographical
strategic depth and natural resources. Despite all this, Singapore highly
values its independence and autonomy as a country, and takes great pains to
avoid becoming a satellite state of any big country.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew once defined Singapore's international
strategy as such: a poisonous shrimp. A shrimp might be small but its poison
could pose a threat to the big fish in international oceans, and so it will not
be eaten by the big fish and can co-exist with them.
Since its founding, Singapore has gradually formulated a
"balancing strategy". Singapore's geopolitical vulnerability has a
lasting effect on its foreign policy.
Of its 5.4 million population, about 75 per cent are of
Chinese ethnicity, and Chinese is one of the four official languages. Despite
its cultural "affinity" (with China), Singapore established
diplomatic relations with China only on Oct 3, 1990 in order to avoid
suspicions from neighbouring countries.
Singapore achieved independence in August 1965. When it
first gained independence, Singapore was faced with a severe and complex
regional and international environment. Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries
at the time adopted an anti-China policy, and some viewed Singapore as the
Trojan horse of China in South-east Asia. Therefore, Singapore began to
comprehensively deepen its relations with China only after Indonesia restored
diplomatic relations with China in February 1989.
An April 27 Global Risk Insights article on Singapore's
dilemmas and challenges states that it is common knowledge that Singapore
placed supreme importance on its security.
Nanyang Technological University's defence and strategic
studies researcher Chen Sicheng highlighted that as the smallest country in
Asia with a "siege mentality", Singapore must adopt a flexible and
nimble foreign policy. Therefore, Singapore's philosophy in dealing with big
countries, and in its foreign policy in general, was pragmatism. As a result,
Singapore's relations with other countries often would show
"contradictions".
Singapore supports the United States' continued presence in
South-east Asia, and welcomes the US' "pivot to Asia" policy.
However, some quarters disagree with the view that Singapore is being
"one-sidedly" pro-US, and although Singapore hopes to
"balance" China through the US, it certainly does not wish to see bad
relations between China and the US.
Singapore hopes to keep all stakeholders - including China,
the US, Japan and the Republic of Korea - actively involved in regional affairs
through various regional cooperation mechanisms. To Singapore's leaders, it is
better to maintain its own security through regional competition among several
big countries, than to hand over its fate to one big country.
Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger has on more
than one occasion described Singapore leaders' analysis of world politics as
"cold-blooded". Singapore is unfazed by such an assessment. Former
foreign minister George Yeo once said: "The fact is, we have to be so. We
had to survive under very limited circumstances, and so our world view could
not be subjective or emotional." These remarks reflect Singapore's
"pragmatic" foreign policy.
Singapore has always viewed the US market as a major engine
of its own growth. However, since 2007, Singapore's trade with China has far
surpassed that with the US, and China has become a far more important trading
partner of Singapore. Pragmatic Singapore has therefore placed greater
importance than before on China.
Some scholars say that among the Asean countries, Singapore
is the architect and front-line advocate of a pro-US "balance of
power" strategy. However, when the US criticises Singapore's "core
interests", Singapore would unabashedly react. For example, Singapore
reacted strongly to the US State Department's Human Rights Report 2012, calling
the US criticisms of Singapore's Internal Security Act an act of double
standards and hypocrisy.
Being able to influence the will of big countries is a
source of pride for Singapore but Singapore is also deeply aware of the limits
of its influence. Such a "balancing foreign policy" at times benefits
Singapore but sometimes also puts Singapore in a predicament of having to make
hard choices.
This is a translated excerpt of an article which first appeared
on Sept 27 in the Chinese-language Global Times, or Huanqiu Shibao.
The Straits Times
www.straitstimes.comPublished on Oct 02, 2013
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