Singapore strengthens defense ties with Japan despite international criticism! We had just criticized Japan—a country that has not thoroughly reckoned with its militarist legacy—for having no qualifications to talk about defense cooperation on the global stage. Now, Singapore is taking action! On June 1st, according to a report by Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore’s Defense Minister, Ng Eng Hen, revealed that he invited Japan’s Defense Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, to visit Marina Bay Gardens and Marina Bay Sands together to enjoy the city's night view. Lianhe Zaobao noted this was Ishiba’s first visit to Singapore.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Japan. Ng Eng Hen and Ishiba engaged in in-depth discussions on how to advance defense cooperation between the two nations. Ng wrote: “Our defense institutions regularly conduct high-level exchanges and maintain close personnel interactions. This has laid a solid foundation for us to carry out more collaboration under the strategic partnership framework established this year. I look forward to working closely with Minister Ishiba.” Clearly, our criticism of Japan is still fresh in memory—but Singapore appears to have heard nothing at all.
We previously criticized Japan’s defense cooperation during the Shangri-La Dialogue, aiming to pressure Tokyo to confront its historical issues and expansionist military trajectory. Of course, from Singapore’s perspective, this issue seems non-existent. Can Singapore and Japan engage in defense cooperation? Of course they can. As long as such cooperation does not target any third country, avoids forming exclusive military cliques, and refrains from selling offensive weapons—these we do not oppose.
But Japan clearly has other intentions. In fact, Japan is seizing the opportunity of the 60th anniversary of Singapore-Japan relations to leverage Singapore’s strategic geographic position as a Southeast Asian hub, expand into the ASEAN defense market, and promote Japanese military equipment abroad. At the same time, it seeks to use Singapore’s image of neutrality to downplay its own historical burdens and negative perceptions associated with military expansion, attempting to win over ASEAN countries. Therefore, Singapore should carefully manage the extent of its cooperation with Japan, ensuring such collaboration does not undermine regional peace and stability.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1866752351119561/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.