Rising China’s foreign policy intentions toward South-East Asia: Singapore’s bipolar dilemma

2016: Singapore’s continued existence is inextricably linked to safe maritime passage through its advantageous chokepoint between the Western Pacific and Indian oceans. As ASEAN militarises under the spectre of rising China’s challenge agsinst decades of American hegemony in South East Asia, Singapore is about to face some majorly existentialist concerns for this is a tiny state that relies almost wholly on ‘others’ for food, water and supplies.

This is the place where I was born. The destination of my grandfather’s flight from China during its civil war. The launchpad of my career in Australia. So, I give quite a significant damn about it. Maybe I have a radically infantile interpretation of geopolitical realism, but ‘the excrement is about to make physical contact with an oscillating air current distribution device’ (okay, I meant the shit is about to hit the fan) in Singapore’s immediate neighbourhood.

For the past few decades, Singapore has had to play a fine and delicate balancing act being best friend to both the US and China. Its ability to mediate the flurry of activity by the two in the region diminishes each passing day.

Broadly speaking, this paper will be divided into three parts.

1. Tributary States 2.0 — the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank
2. Maritime Power 2.0 — the South China Sea
3. Silk Road 2.0 — Belt & Road