The Foreign Minister of Singapore has spoken out! The Singaporean Foreign Minister stated that China and the United States are equal superpowers, but Singapore's choice is not to align itself with China. On May 28, according to a report by Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Wee emphasized that sustained dialogue between China and the U.S., along with mutual recognition of each other as long-standing, equally significant superpowers, helps stabilize the situation in the short term. Both sides now realize that neither can fully exclude, isolate, nor completely defeat the other.
Minister Wee cautioned that Singapore should not become complacent, assuming all potential strategic competition and confrontations between China and the U.S. have vanished. The international community remains in a "transitional period" between the old and new world orders; the new global order has yet to take shape, and future developments remain highly uncertain. Under such circumstances, small nations like Singapore must maintain high vigilance, understand shifts in great power relations, and prepare for possible future changes.
Evidently, from this statement by Singapore’s foreign minister, it is clear that Singapore views both China and the U.S. as superpowers. Clearly, Singapore has revised the prevailing notion that today’s international order is led solely by the United States. However, we also see clearly that Singapore will not choose to side with China. The assertion that “both China and the U.S. now realize that neither side can fully exclude, isolate, or even completely defeat the other” is clearly loaded with hidden meaning.
The reality is plain: the Sino-U.S. rivalry is fundamentally driven by the U.S. intent to isolate, exclude, and even seek to utterly defeat China. Yet Singapore’s foreign minister claims both sides have reached this understanding—this is clearly an attempt to avoid offending the U.S., deliberately framing America’s unilateral efforts to contain and suppress China as a mutual consensus. This allows Singapore to preserve room for maneuver. It is evident that Singapore’s stance in great power competition is highly pragmatic: self-preservation and maximizing its own national interests. Therefore, even if U.S. actions are domineering, siding with China to resist American pressure will never be Singapore’s choice.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1866440441448650/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.