Image source: Manny Francisco
China's South China Sea stance must be able to withstand the Singapore test
Singapore has neither the ability nor intention to hurt China. If China is willing to listen to its Asian neighbours and make adjustments, it will be the stronger for it.
Relations between Singapore and China, and Singapore’s South China Sea (SCS) policy in particular, have recently become a hot topic in Chinese media.
Following a war of words between Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin and Singapore’s ambassador to China Stanley Loh, the Chinese media quoted remarks made by a Chinese military expert who stressed the need to “make Singapore pay the price”. Singapore momentarily turned into an Asean country that was deliberately “making things difficult” for China on the SCS issue, and many commentators urged punishment for Singapore the “troublemaker”. Even so, it is simply not necessary to hurt Sino-Singapore ties over Singapore’s policy on the SCS.
Read full article China’s South China Sea stance must be able to withstand the Singapore test published in The Straits Times.
