Eurasia Review
05 October 2016
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- China’s Hegemonic Trajectory: Intimidating ASEAN? – Analysis
China’s Hegemonic Trajectory: Intimidating ASEAN? – Analysis
Fierce criticism of Singapore by China’s spokespersons for allegedly stirring up tension over the South China Sea at international forums reflects a pattern of interference in ASEAN’s deliberations; this suggests that Beijing is embarked on a hegemonic trajectory in Asia.
Recent criticism of Singapore by Chinese scholars and pundits over South China Sea tensions further underscores a noticeable turning point in China’s assertiveness as a rising power. The turn is all the more significant because it involves a sharp dip in the highly publicised warm relationship between the two countries particularly in the economic and political domain as symbolised by their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
It is therefore incongruous that Beijing’s media pundits and defence scholars should deem it fit to take Singapore to task for allegedly stirring the pot of South China Sea tensions. They even cited fabricated reports of what Singapore was said to have done at the recent Non-Aligned Summit in Venezuela, contrary to the official record of what it stated, and threatened to punish Singapore for it.
… Mushahid Ali is a Senior Fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
RSIS / Online
