Singapore urges US to accept China's rise, spare other nations

[WASHINGTON] Singapore urged the US to allow China to have a greater say in shaping global rules to avoid a prolonged clash that could force smaller countries to choose between the world's biggest economies.

Speaking to an audience in Washington on Wednesday, Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said it won't work to view China as an adversary that must be contained, and called for "constructive competition" between the superpowers.

A world that splits into rival blocs would jeopardise gains made under the US-led world order over the past 70 years, he said.

"My appeal to the United States is to double down, reap the rewards together," Mr Balakrishnan said at an event hosted by the Center for International and Strategic Studies.

"Singapore wants both a sustained US presence, which we believe is positive, and we also want China to be able to assume its rightful place as it develops and becomes a superpower in its own right,'' he said.

China is highly unlikely to undermine the US-led global system given it has been one of its biggest beneficiaries, Mr Balakrishnan said. However, he added, it's "an entirely legitimate expectation on the part of China" to have the right to revise global rules since it didn't have a say when they were first written decades ago.

Failure to strike a deal will disproportionately impact trade-reliant countries like Singapore, he said, adding that protracted talks have already created "great uncertainty and volatility for the markets".

"For us in the middle, especially for small countries, we do not wish to be forced into making invidious choices," Mr Balakrishnan said.

"So we hope that both sides will work out a strategic response and take into account China's increasing influence and weight in the international arena, and that both sides will find a way to accommodate each others' legitimate interests."

BLOOMBERG