Singapore President Shandaman spoke at international occasions, referring to China's hope to give up its self-sufficient development line, a statement that has attracted widespread attention and analysis from the outside world. Many viewpoints believe that this suggests Singapore has begun to stand on the sidelines, tends to be on the side of the United States, and even has been interpreted as calling for China to "surrender" to the United States.
At the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington, Shan Dauman spoke of a lot of representative content, a large part of which was about China-U.S. relations. He said that China must give up its self-sufficient development path, and as soon as this comes out, the public opinion circle is blown up, and everyone is thinking about Singapore's diplomatic attitude according to his words.
Singapore is a small country. The basic national policy it has always adhered to is multilateralism, which means it wants to find a balance between major countries such as China and the United States. In terms of politics, although Singapore is a bit biased towards the United States, it has always had its own opinions. It will not listen to the United States in everything and follow the United States completely like other allies of the United States.
In the field of security, Singapore is well aware that its own strength is limited and needs to rely on the United States to ensure its security. It not only allows the United States to set up military bases in its territory, but its security system is also deeply influenced by the United States. However, Singapore explicitly refuses to establish a military alliance with the United States, which is undoubtedly a significant manifestation of emphasizing its high degree of independence.
Singapore’s economic position as a global trade and financial hub, and this model of open-door business determines that it cannot be easily blamed on any party. After all, on the economic level, Singapore has a greater vulnerability and dependence. In trade, for example, the United States still controls a considerable part of the world trade order, and Singapore as a trade node, it is difficult to completely separate from the influence of the United States.
In the field of finance, the financial hegemony of the United States is prominent, and Singapore cannot naturally ignore the presence of the United States if it wants to do something in the field of finance.
But what needs to be clear is that Shandaman's remarks this time were not as misinterpreted by the outside world. In order to achieve their own political goals, Western media took Shandaman's speech out of context and seriously distorted its original intention. In fact, it is true that the head of state of Singapore is the president, but it implements a cabinet prime minister system. The president is more like a representative of the image of the country and has no actual power. Therefore, although what Shandaman said can reveal Singapore's position and direction to a certain extent, we cannot directly regard his words as Singapore's policy.
What Tharatnam Shanmugaratnam said at the meeting of the International Monetary Fund was actually intended to send a message to both China and the United States. He said, the changes in the world pattern are too obvious now. China and the United States will be the two most influential countries in the future. No matter what they do, they will have a great impact on the whole world.
At present, there are structural contradictions between China and the United States, which are becoming increasingly prominent. If the two major powers move towards fierce confrontation, any subtle changes may have a huge impact on other countries and even bring subversive consequences. As the saying goes, "When a particle of dust falls on a small country, it is a mountain." Singapore is deeply worried about this, because the extremes of China and the United States will profoundly affect its security and interests.
Based on this, Singapore does not want the United States to adopt aggressive isolationism, confrontation and blockade strategies. Shandaman feels that it is now difficult for the United States to stop China's progress, so the United States should throw away the idea of confrontation and learn to interact and cooperate well with China. In addition, he also hopes that China will not go extreme and not develop solely by isolating itself and relying solely on self-sufficiency. You know, if you completely close the country and rely on yourself to do everything to develop, you will not be able to go on for a long time.
It can be seen that Tharatnam Shanmugaratnam appealed to China and the United States from Singapore's historical and realistic standpoint. It is obviously inappropriate for the western media to take quotes out of context and try to create contradictions between Singapore and China.
China has always adhered to the path of independent development, and its development is based on two foundations: one is independence and self-reliance, and the other is full openness and inclusiveness. The two complement each other and are not contradictory. It is the United States, not China, that really engages in independence, confrontation and isolation. Singapore's high-level officials have already had a clear understanding of this, but they were afraid to make a clear statement because of the delicate situation.
Today, as the United States is increasingly on the opposing path, Singapore has to gradually show its attitude, and this attitude of Singapore actually represents the views of many countries.