Formal Sino-Singapore Defense Relation: Myth or Reality

摘要

South East Asia (SEA) is a highly diversified region, culturally, ethnically, and religiously. Currently, territorial disputes and domestic instability make SEA a rather volatile region, masked by a seemingly benign facade. Singapore, an island state, not endowed with any natural resources, actively engages regional as well as international nation states to maintain a balanced of power in the region to ensure its continued economic survival and sovereignty. Amid the changing geopolitical climate of SEA and China s rising influence in the region, this thesis investigates the feasibility, acceptability, and suitability (FAS) for Singapore to establish a formal defense relationship with China. The thesis differentiates the characteristics of the various forms of defense relations; formal and informal, to provide the basis for the cost and benefit analysis and the also the FAS test. The thesis also addresses Singapore s bilateral relations with key nation states and how these will be affected by a Sino-Singapore defense alliance. The results from the analysis showed that a proposition of such nature is highly time-dependent and also geopolitically dependent. The conclusion highlights the realization of the alliance will have to be build on continued security cooperation and greater integration in the military security arenas between the two nations, capitalizing on the continued presence of Singapore s Senior Minister, touted as the cornerstone for such an alliance to be initiated.