In the corner of Southeast Asia, there is a city country with an area of only 735.2 square kilometers—Singapore.
It has neither abundant natural resources nor huge indigenous industries.
However, it is able to consistently rank in the top three of the global GDP per capita, becoming one of the most developed economies in Asia.
Many people wonder what is the wealth code for this “small bullet country”? the answer is actually simple: rely on China.
China's goods, oil, and trade exchanges have supported Singapore's half-walled river, directly nourishing 170,000 local workers.
But it’s hard to understand that Singapore is making Chinese money while inviting the U.S. military home.
Take the GDP contributed by China and do things to guard against China. Why do you make this kind of behavior of "eating and smashing the pot"?
Small countries’ survival anxiety: on the basis of the “hegemony balance” to continue
When it was forced to separate from Malaysia in 1965, Singapore was barely able to survive—the neighboring country had no decent strategic depth.
Lee Kuan Yew, the then leader, quickly understood that if a small country wanted to survive, it would have to let all the big countries "get involved" and rely on the strength of others to form a balance. This is the "balance of power strategy" that Singapore has been advocating for decades. To put it bluntly, it is a refuge in U.S. hegemony.
As early as the 1990s, after the US military withdrew its troops from the Philippines, Singapore immediately pulled the Seventh Fleet Logistics Command to its own territory.
In the agreement signed in 2000, it was intended to spend a lot of money on the U.S. military to build an aircraft carrier-specific terminal, and expanded the small military port to become the first U.S. aircraft carrier base in Southeast Asia.
Now an average of more than 100 U.S. military ships a year come to this repair, P8 anti-submarines are also stationed here every year, which is equivalent to putting "monitoring cameras" at the gate of China.
For Singapore, this is not simply "inviting a wolf into the house." Lee Kuan Yew said long ago,"The balance of power is not an evenly matched balance, it is a stable state"-and this stability must be supported by the United States. With the US military here, neighboring countries dare not provoke it casually, and international capital also dares to invest.
As for China? even making money in China, Singapore is afraid of the "green under the big trees", always feel like to find a stronger relying on the mountain to sleep and feel stable.
Double insurance of the economy: both the Chinese market and the US must pay back
As one of the world’s busiest ports, the port of Singapore handles 30 percent of the goods that China imports and exports every year, from electronics to crude oil.
Ports, logistics, and trade, these industries that depend directly on China's food, hard-to-feed 170,000 workers, accounting for more than 5% of Singapore's working population.
Even the digital economy that has burned up in recent years, Singapore's $12.81 billion in the scale, many of which are also money earned to help Chinese companies make cross-border settlements and optimize supply chains.
But Singapore is afraid of "putting eggs in one basket." It knows too well where its destiny lies: if something goes wrong in the Strait of Malacca, the economy will shut down.
In its eyes, although China is a “King Master”, it cannot give it a “security guarantee” – after all, Chinese warships will not be stationed at the gate of Singapore all year round.
Instead, the presence of the U.S. military, can give the international capital a determination bullet.Those placing the regional headquarters of Singapore multinational companies, to say the truth is to see here there are U.S. troops covered, even if the South China Sea a little wind blows, business can do so.
This "two-headed" calculation is fine: profit from Chinese goods and markets, and capital confidence is stable by the military presence of the United States.
Just like the Changi base, the inner port is used by itself and the outer port is used by the US military. It not only earns the logistics supply money of the US military, but also takes advantage of the US military's potential to consolidate its position as a shipping center.
Even if the United States engages in trade protectionism, Singapore dares to endure pressure to retain the U.S. military-anyway, China's business continues and the U.S. military's protection continues, without delay at both ends.
Calculation of regional chess game: serving as a "balance fulcrum" in ASEAN
Singapore has always wanted to be a "talker" in ASEAN, but its size is too small, so it can only rely on the game of big powers to find a sense of existence.
With the rise of China in recent years, some ASEAN countries are happy and some are sad: Vietnam and Thailand want to make money from China, while the Philippines and Indonesia are afraid of being "overwhelmed" by China.
Singapore just seized this opportunity to build itself into a "bridge of communication between major powers"-and the US military is its "bargaining chip".
It cries "ASEAN does not choose a side," but actually invites US troops in to check and balance China. When Lee Hsien Loong visited Japan in 2013, he specifically reminded China that "hard treatment" of the South China Sea issue would lose its reputation; he also always spread the word internationally, saying that "small Asian countries are afraid of China restoring its imperial status."
This will please the United States on the one hand, and on the other hand, it will cater to countries in ASEAN that have concerns about China, so that everyone can feel that "Singapore can calm the situation".
After all, ASEAN and China's trade volume is about to break the trillion, but no one dares to openly stand up to the United States, Singapore jumping out and singing "balance play", instead of brushing a sense of presence.
More importantly, Singapore has calculated that China and the United States will not really fall out. It knows that China needs shipping safety in the Strait of Malacca and will not turn against it just because the US military is stationed; it also knows that the United States needs a foothold in Southeast Asia and will not force it to break diplomatic relations with China.
Just like this time, the United States asked ASEAN countries to sign an anti-China trade agreement, Singapore said it, but it didn't really implement it-after all, the jobs of 170,000 people cannot be lost, and the protection of the US military cannot be lost. This ability to walk a tightrope among big powers has become its "exclusive advantage" in ASEAN.
In the final analysis, Singapore's choice has never been "ingratitude", but the survival instinct of a small country. Relying on China to make money is a practical need, supporting the US military to prevent risks is a security need, and balancing in ASEAN is a status requirement.
Only this "three-party-friendly" play code can continue to play, I am afraid to see the face of the Chinese game.
After all, once the great kingdom's true knife has dried up and stuck in the middle of Singapore, it may be the first to be overthrown.
Source of information:
World Wide Web-Experts: Singapore's Chengmei platform to deter China urgently needs US hegemony
Overseas Networks – Singapore’s Digital Economy Increases Significantly