Singaporean Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said that growing defense spending, including by China and across Asia, is evidence a peace dividend after World War II that fueled global economic growth is largely over.
“The last seven, eight decades of the peace dividend after the Second World War is over, and you’re going to see increased defense expenditure literally all over the world,” he said yesterday in television interview.
“Certainly in the case of Europe, America still spends more than anyone else, several times more than even China,” he said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Southeast Asia has grown more vocal over the prospect of a conflict in Asia amid fierce competition between the US and China, as Russia’s war in Ukraine further sours ties between global powers. The region’s concerns lie in the brewing tensions over Taiwan, and China’s military assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea.
China on Sunday said defense spending this year would grow by the fastest pace since 2019, at 7.2 percent, suggesting a ramp-up amid growing rivalry with the US.
Beijing also kept its language regarding Taiwan largely intact in an annual report, implying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is maintaining a policy of “peaceful reunification” with the self-governing island.
“I expect to see greater expenditure all around, including within Asia,” Balakrishnan said, adding that the spending boost in China and other countries does not necessarily imply the existence of an arms race.
“My point is to recognize the reasons behind this,” he said. “The rules-based world order, the focus on economic integration, liberal economics, free trade, all that was a formula for peace and prosperity, and now the faith in those pillars has been shaken. It’s a flight to safety in a way.”
While the region has largely refrained from choosing sides between the US and China, that is becoming more difficult for some. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr reacted to a record number of Chinese incursions in waters it claims by granting the US greater military access.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said that welcoming military forces is the wrong approach to deescalating tensions.
Singapore has rebuffed pressure by other countries to choose a side, with Balakrishnan telling parliament last month that “we will not be a proxy or a stalking horse for any superpower.”
The city-state is not a claimant to the South China Sea, but Balakrishnan said in the interview the territorial disputes in the South China “may take generations to resolve.”
“This is an area where China can afford to be and should be more generous to the smaller, weaker states in Southeast Asia,” he said.
In the meantime, Balakrishnan said the US and China should focus on developing economic ties with Southeast Asia.
“I’m not trying to trivialize the the tensions in the South China Sea, but what I’m saying is that if everyone can keep calm, less drama, and focus, follow the money, I think that’ll be helpful,” he said.
STEPPING UP: Diminished US polar science presence mean opportunities for the UK and other countries, although China or Russia might also fill that gap, a researcher said The UK’s flagship polar research vessel is to head to Antarctica next week to help advance dozens of climate change-linked science projects, as Western nations spearhead studies there while the US withdraws. The RRS Sir David Attenborough, a state-of-the-art ship named after the renowned British naturalist, would aid research on everything from “hunting underwater tsunamis” to tracking glacier melt and whale populations. Operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the country’s polar research institute, the 15,000-tonne icebreaker — boasting a helipad, and various laboratories and gadgetry — is pivotal to the UK’s efforts to assess climate change’s impact there. “The saying goes
Police in China detained dozens of pastors of one of its largest underground churches over the weekend, a church spokesperson and relatives said, in the biggest crackdown on Christians since 2018. The detentions, which come amid renewed China-US tensions after Beijing dramatically expanded rare earth export controls last week, drew condemnation from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who on Sunday called for the immediate release of the pastors. Pastor Jin Mingri (金明日), founder of Zion Church, an unofficial “house church” not sanctioned by the Chinese government, was detained at his home in the southern city of Beihai on Friday evening, said
TICKING CLOCK: A path to a budget agreement was still possible, the president’s office said, as a debate on reversing an increase of the pension age carries on French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday was racing to find a new prime minister within a two-day deadline after the resignation of outgoing French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu tipped the country deeper into political crisis. The presidency late on Wednesday said that Macron would name a new prime minister within 48 hours, indicating that the appointment would come by this evening at the latest. Lecornu told French television in an interview that he expected a new prime minister to be named — rather than early legislative elections or Macron’s resignation — to resolve the crisis. The developments were the latest twists in three tumultuous
FIRST STAGE: Hamas has agreed to release 48 Israeli hostages in exchange for 250 ‘national security prisoners’ as well as 1,700 Gazans, but has resisted calls to disarm Israel plans to destroy what remains of Hamas’ network of tunnels under Gaza, working with US approval after its hostages are freed, it said yesterday. Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz said that the operation would be conducted under an “international mechanism” led by the US. “Israel’s great challenge after the hostage release phase will be the destruction of all Hamas terrorist tunnels in Gaza,” Katz said. “I have ordered the army to prepare to carry out this mission,” he added. Hamas operates a network of tunnels under Gaza, allowing its fighters to operate out of sight of Israeli reconnaissance. Some have passed under
RSS