‘We do not take sides, we uphold principles’: Vivian on Singapore’s foreign policy approach

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SINGAPORE - Singapore’s foreign policy approach is not to be neutral, but to act in a principled and consistent way based on long-term national interests, said Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on August 27.

“We do not take sides. We uphold principles,” he said in a speech on how small states like Singapore can navigate a divided world. “I found that actually, by being consistent, sticking by the rules, upholding principles, I get less pressure. It allows me, whether I go to Washington or Beijing, to say exactly the same thing.”

Sometimes, other states are pleased because Singapore seems to be on their side, he said, while other times, the converse happens.

“But it is not a wishy-washy shifty position where, if I put enough pressure, I can pressure you and you will change your mind,” he said. “When we say yes, it is valuable. That is the point. We are not aiming for neutrality, we are not choosing sides, we are upholding principles.”

He added that Singapore has to be a credible, reliable and predictable partner to all, promoting friendly relations to advance Singapore’s national interests.

“Having a friendly relationship with the person across the table, at a minimum, ensures that you do not miscommunicate...Ideally, having a friendly relationship also enables you to look for compromises – landing zones where you can win some, lose some, or ideally, win-win,” he said.

Dr Balakrishnan was addressing about 250 attendees at the Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum 2024 – “Majulah: Navigating the Next Chapter of Singapore’s Story” held at Shaw Foundation Alumni House Auditorium at National University of Singapore (NUS).

Organised by the NUS Students’ Political Association (NUSPA), the annual forum gives academics and students from various tertiary institutions a chance to engage in dialogue with senior political leaders in Singapore.

In setting out Singapore’s approach to foreign policy, Dr Balakrishnan said Singapore had previously “caught the tides and the winds” at the right moments, maximising its lift to achieve today’s success. However, the world has changed dramatically today.

The 1980s and the 1990s were the golden age for economic liberalism, he said. Instead of ideology, people were focusing on economics, on being pragmatic, on growing productive capacity and creating jobs. This was also a period in which the United States and China were strategically on the same side.

In that climate, Singapore was a non-communist city state that was trying to do business with the world, and willing to overcome xenophobia and colonial hangovers, he said.

“We were trying to be global or to run a globalised economy even before the word “globalisation” was popularised,” he said, adding that Singapore had no choice not to do so when it was cut off from Malaysia in 1965.

“It is no surprise then, in retrospect, that for that practice and the fact that we had honest, competent leadership and hardworking, disciplined people, Singapore’s per capita GDP grew from US$500 (about S$1500 then) in 1965 to about US$85,000 (S$115,600) today”, he said, calling this an “incredible rate of growth” which occurred in 59 years – very few countries, even cities, have experienced that kind of trajectory.

Today, the world is becoming a multipolar one, with a fundamental lack of strategic trust between US and China, he said.

This is worrisome as America was and continues to be Singapore’s largest foreign investor by a long way, while China’s reform and opening up since 1978 benefited Singapore tremendously.

“Even if the US and China do not go to war, if relations are fraught, if their economies diverge, then the situation for us will be very tricky. It can easily slip, if there is a mistake, from the best of both worlds to the worst of both worlds,” he added.

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