Singapore’s Survival and its China Challenge

Singapore-China relations have deteriorated since 2010, due to Singapore’s position over the disputed South China Sea and its support for the United States’ strategy of ‘rebalancing’. Singapore has been concerned with China’s use of coercion instead of international law and arbitration to settle interstate disputes, as this undermines the very international system upon which small states depend on for survival. However, despite pressure from China to take its side, Singapore does still have room to manoeuvre as there are a number of larger countries which are concerned with China’s attempts to dominate the region.