Has the West discovered an Asian geopolitical ally in Singapore?

For years, Singapore has been thought-about a talented practitioner of hedging between the world’s superpowers and never taking sides. Now it is likely one of the few Asian international locations to overtly condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Hours after Russian troops marched into Ukraine on February 24, Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, condemned the motion as an “unprovoked invasion of a sovereign country.”

Days later, the city-state grew to become one of many few Asian international locations to announce its personal unilateral sanctions in opposition to Russia, solely the second time it has executed so with out a UN Security Council mandate.

“The world has changed profoundly,” Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s overseas minister, mentioned throughout a joint press convention in Berlin together with his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, on April 4.

“I think it becomes even more crucial that this vital partnership that we have between Germany and Singapore is worth reinforcing and affirming, especially at a time like this,” he mentioned.

Every week earlier, on March 26, Singapore’s prime minister made an eight-day journey to the United States, turning into the primary Southeast Asian chief to go to the White House since Joe Biden’s inauguration in January 2021.

Is Singapore selecting sides?

For years, Singapore was thought-about a talented practitioner of hedging between the world’s superpowers and never taking sides.

Singapore has been branded the “China whisperer” within the US for performing as a go-between for Washington and Beijing. But the nation’s response to the invasion of Ukraine has led some analysts to ponder its longer-term geopolitical pursuits.

Singapore has additionally been very public in its requires US involvement within the Indo-Pacific as a hedge in opposition to a rising China, however till lately it “has done so while maintaining a posture of relative independence,” mentioned Michael Barr, affiliate professor of worldwide relations at Australia’s Flinders University.

“It has tried to maintain a posture of being everyone’s friend,” Barr mentioned.

“It still doesn’t want to be anyone’s enemy,” Barr mentioned, “but, under Lee Hsien Loong, it hasn’t invested very much in the maintenance of either the appearance of independence, nor the goodwill of China.”

“Whatever the cause, Singapore has very publicly aligned itself with the US,” Barr mentioned, “proudly claiming the mantle of ‘America’s best friend in Southeast Asia.’”

Closer relations with EU?

Like the US, the European Union is seeing a possibility to construct higher ties with Singapore and safe an ally in Southeast Asia.

The EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement — Brussels’ first in Southeast Asia — entered into drive November 2019.

The following 12 months, bilateral commerce in items and companies exceeded €100 billion.

The Netherlands is the second-largest recipient of Singaporean direct funding overseas, after China, valued round €70 billion as of 2020, based on Singapore’s Department of Statistics.

Singapore’s commerce in items with Germany elevated year-over-year by 17.7% in 2021, to €15.8 billion.

On the safety entrance, Singapore is a part of the UK-led Five Power Defence Arrangements.

The nation’s air drive has skilled on the Cazaux Air Base in France for the reason that late Nineteen Nineties. France is the second-largest supplier of army gear to Singapore, after the US. Germany comes third.

In December, a German naval frigate docked in Singapore’s Changi Naval Base for the primary time in 20 years. Both international locations’ troops held a joint training-exercise in Germany final month.

Policy primarily based on ideas, not taking sides

Some analysts aren’t so positive whether or not Singapore’s response to the invasion of Ukraine factors to any important change of coverage.

The city-state’s leaders have been eager to emphasize they didn’t sanction Russia out of solidarity with Western democracies, however with a view to implement worldwide norms of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

For Singapore, these are “existential issues,” mentioned Linda Lim, professor of company technique and worldwide enterprise on the University of Michigan.

Singapore’s relations with the US, China and the EU haven’t modified, she mentioned.

“The fundamental principles of territorial integrity, respect for the independence and sovereignty of nations, and to be free of the threat of being attacked by other nations … are essential pillars for peace and prosperity in the world,” Foreign Minister Balakrishnan mentioned in Berlin in April.

“That is why, although we are a tiny city-state far away from Europe, we decided that we needed to take a stand,” he mentioned. “Not take sides, but to take a stand on principle.”

Singapore was a part of Malaysia earlier than it grew to become unbiased in 1965, and, because the Twentieth-smallest nation on this planet by land space, it’s way more reliant than most on worldwide regulation for safety. With few pure assets of its personal, it’s additionally depending on free commerce.

The authorities’s response to the Ukraine struggle additionally seems widespread. A survey taken in early March by Blackbox Research, a pollster, discovered that 95% of Singaporeans sympathized with Ukraine and 60% backed sanctions on Russia. Only 4% mentioned they opposed the sanctions.

How do Singapore’s pursuits align with the EU’s?

The columnist Chua Mui Hoong wrote lately in The Straits Times that Singapore’s overseas coverage choices shouldn’t be seen as “pro-West, anti-Russia or anti-China.” Instead, “they are pro-Singapore.”

The city-state’s officers have additionally sought to current their response to the invasion of Ukraine as primarily based on Singapore’s personal pursuits.

Brussels may play this to its benefit, analysts say. In an analogous approach, the EU additionally needs to chart its personal path between the US and China.

In February 2021, the European Commission set out a brand new commerce technique primarily based on the idea of “open strategic autonomy.”

Strong ties with the EU present Singapore with extra choices for cooperation throughout a spread of points and make efforts to navigate the more and more fraught US-China relationship “somewhat easier,” Ja Ian Chong, an affiliate professor of political science on the National University of Singapore, advised DW.

“Singapore still has to face a world where choices are starker and cooperation less easily taken-for-granted,” he mentioned.

“Such conditions increase the EU’s importance to Singapore,” Chong added.