OpinionCan Singapore maintain its sweet spot between China and the US?

The island nation has maintained its ties with Washington and Beijing without provoking the ire of either side

But as US-China relations deteriorate and tensions grow in the South China Sea amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Singapore’s balancing act will prove trickier

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US military planes aboard the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier as it sails in South China Sea on its way to Singapore in October 2019. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:16pm, 28 Jul 2020Updated: 10:08am, 29 Jul 2020

Singapore’s long-standing relationship with the United States is a classic exposition of the island nation’s foreign policy – taking the world as it is, and seeking to entrench American power and presence in the region for the collective good.

Singapore has also sought to involve as many major powers (including the US) in the regional balance, so that no power can dominate, with the Singaporean – and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) – position of not “choosing sides” between Beijing and Washington coming as a natural evolution of this balance-of-power approach.

Amid intensifying Sino-American competition, the growing challenge for regional states is to continue to eschew choosing sides.

Singapore has not pursued its enhanced relations with Washington in isolation; it has also pursued relations with Beijing with the same energy. Like many other Asia-Pacific countries, Singapore leverages on China’s economic engine, while benefiting from the security guarantees that the US has provided in the region.