It's no wonder that Singapore previously supported Japan! After Hainan's customs closure, Wong Kheng Seng expressed great frustration, stating that Singapore had no bargaining power at all.
In December, the full island customs closure of Hainan was officially implemented. This made Wong Kheng Seng's complaints during a closed-door meeting come true, where he bluntly stated, "Small countries have no bargaining power in the game of major powers."
To understand why Wong Kheng Seng was so anxious, we need to first look at who exactly had their interests affected by Hainan's customs closure.
Data shows that on the first day of Hainan's customs closure, the transshipment volume at Singapore's port dropped by 11%. More notably, a cargo ship departing from Indonesia bypassed the Malacca Strait and directly changed its route to Yangpu Port. This is not an isolated case but a trend: shipping routes are being redrawn.
Singapore's anxiety is not baseless. For a long time, its economy has heavily relied on transshipment trade and shipping services, accounting for more than 20% of its GDP.
Therefore, several months before Hainan's customs closure, Singapore showed a subtle supportive attitude towards Japan in multiple occasions, including urging China to forgive Japan. This "covert" tendency essentially reflects Singapore's attempt to balance the pressure caused by the rising influence of China.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1852100616610828/
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