A top Singapore diplomat recently shined the spotlight on China, hoping the second-largest economy would «assert their influence with Chinese characteristics» and help put an end to the war in Ukraine.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan called the invasion of Ukraine «perhaps even a bigger moment than the fall of the Berlin Wall» and highlighted that China had an even greater economic stake than Russia in an «integrated multilateral rules-based world».
«The big issue now is what decisions and actions China takes,» Balakrishnan said in an interview with «Bloomberg». «If you get a deepening of the bifurcation of the global economy, of supply chains, of technology, this will be a very, very different world.»
«Influence With Chinese Characteristics»
According to Balakrishnan, the world is at an «inflection point» and the next phase of world order could reveal itself very soon.
«I hope [the Chinese government] will assert their influence with Chinese characteristics, which means quietly and discreetly, but effectively,» Balakrishnan said. «That’s a hope now. Whether this is wishful thinking on my part we’ll see over the next few days and weeks.»
«Little Singapore»
Singapore was the first Southeast Asian nation to announce unilateral sanctions against Russia and one of eight members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that did not abstain from condemning the invasion of Ukraine at the UN General Assembly – a rate which Balakrishnan said he was «pleasantly surprised» with, in light of the bloc’s high diversity.
«Little Singapore is standing up for principles and expressing a hope for the rules of engagement for this new era,» Balakrishnan said.
