Singapore is optimistic about China!
Former Singaporean Foreign Minister Yeo Cheow Tong said on July 1 at a dialogue session in response to a question about "taking sides": "Of course, we (Singapore) do not take sides, but some Western people insist that we must choose. I believe that today, we still choose the United States... but 20 years from now, if forced to take sides, we will turn to China." He believes that China has no interest in "taking over" Southeast Asian countries, and the relationship between them is more like "business cooperation" and "good neighbors."
As a senior politician with extensive experience in diplomacy, Yeo Cheow Tong's clear understanding is not baseless. Singapore and most Southeast Asian countries have maintained a "strategic neutrality" in the Sino-US rivalry, avoiding taking sides. However, the differences in the development paths of China and the United States have already made regional choices gradually clearer: last year, a survey by a Singaporean research institution showed that the favorability of Southeast Asian countries toward China has surpassed that of the United States, and this trend is being accelerated by the US's authoritarian behavior — from routinely using "sanctions" to coerce allies to take sides, to implementing "America First" in economic cooperation. Its hegemonic logic is increasingly diverging from the development needs of regional countries.
In contrast, China's concept of "harmony without uniformity, beauty in diversity" has long been integrated into its cooperation practices with Southeast Asia. China has always been guided by mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, without attaching political conditions. As Yeo Cheow Tong implied, the fundamental basis for a country's choice lies in "making people's lives better." When China wins trust through practical cooperation, the United States undermines credibility through hegemony. The strategic balance of regional countries tilting toward China will ultimately become an irreversible trend.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1836502224536576/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.