Foreign Policy
‘Apple polishing’ diplomacy
We should stop blatantly defending China’s (or anyone else’s) interests; it’s unbecoming and it’s ineffective. Opinion. By Seah Chiang Nee
Apr 12, 2008

During the early days, the late Mr. S. Rajaratnam had helped to win Singapore a lot of world respect by speaking out clearly and sincerely to defend Singapore’s interests.

I’ve reported him in action many times in pursuit of our foreign policy.

He spoke out against the Chinese Communist Party’s support of Chin Peng’s insurgents and Sukarno’s confontasi against Malaysia (we were in it).

We were then speaking up for ourselves, a small state against threats from a bigger foe.

Since then the world has changed; so has our conduct of foreign policy.

These days we seem to have forgotten one simple tenet: We’re too small to be taking sides in others’ conflicts.

We sometimes forget we're still a small trading state, which can’t afford to make enemies unnecessarily involving ourselves in someone else's quarrels.

In recent years under Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew – and now his son - we seem to have become self-appointed defenders of China’s interests. We blow the trumpets of their “achievements” every chance we get.

Recently Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong came out to warn the West not to anger the Chinese people over Tibet by disrupting the Olympic Torch run or boycotting the Games.

"Whatever the intentions of the demonstrators, the people of China believe they want to inflict maximum humiliation on China and the Chinese people more than the Chinese government," Mr. Lee said.

Let me declare here that I am against any Games boycott or violent disruption of the relay and hope this will stop. Peaceful demonstration is, however, another matter; China has to learn to live with a big diversified world.

Indonesia and Hong Kong

We also adopted such a tactic by speaking up for the ills of the late Suharto of Indonesia, whose excellent relations with Lee is well documented.

The smooth relations with Indonesia has come on the back of incessantly defending his dictatorship and playing down his family corruption – at the expense of upsetting many of younger Indonesians.

Hong Kong - For a week in 1997 I spent a week in the city to report on the hangover from Britain to Beijing.

One evening I was invited by an old friend – a government nurse - to have a meal with her family when invariably Mr. Lee Kuan Yew’s advice to the Hong Kong people came up.

Their strong point was making money, and they should carry on doing that, forget about fighting for democracy, Lee had advised.

”We Hong Kong people don’t like Mr. Lee to tell us how to behave politically. We are not like Singapore people. We’re used to having personal freedom under the British,” said the nurse, who had always been apolitical during the years I knew her.

As for Taiwan, its animosity to Singapore's stand needs no mention here. Some of Lee's advice sounds fair to me, but the island’s government and people were largely unhappy with Lee’s pro-Beijing rhetoric.

China

There had been previous occasions Singapore had been a loyal friend.

From the Tien An Men crackdown to conflicts with the US and Europe over ‘human rights’ to Taiwan and Hong Kong, Minister Mentor Lee had often condemned China’s foes and any one criticising China.

In the early days of China’s emergence when Beijing and America lacked understanding of each other, Lee had a case to play the middle man articulating both their positions to each other.

If nothing else, it had helped to prevent unnecessary friction, and frankly I believed it had, to an extent, helped to quicken their pace of rapprochement.

Today, however, China is a different country; it has developed beyond recognition and is more than able, and certainly strong enough, to speak for itself against anyone.

There is no need for Singapore to keep hammering people or countries which criticise or demonstrate against China.

It is poossible that “sucking up to China” is part of Singapore’s foreign policy to gain economic and political leverage. What Lee did was possibly aimed at drawing a sanguine response from the emerging economic giant.

Fair enough, if it works! But can such a strategy work in gaining friendship and respect from the Chinese? I doubt it.

If there is gratitude, it has not been evident. Lee himself said that China has never regarded Singapore as ‘ee jia ren’ or ‘same family’, i.e. there is nothing special in Sino-Singapore relationship.

And don’t forget the broken promises (since partly remedied) of the Suzhou Industrial Estate!

Even if this strategy is pleasing the Chinese leaders, there is a price for Singapore across the wide world.

To please China over Tibet we risk upsetting millions in the West and elsewhere who believe that China is behaving too high-handedly - just as condemning protestors in Taiwan and Hong Kong had done to our reputation in these places.

Some countries (and some of our own citizens) may see us as China’s little puppy with an unwritten global role as damage controller of its faults. Which, of course, we are NOT!

By Seah Chiang Nee