East Asia in International Relations

Essay Submitted by – Meha Lodha

1st year MA International Relations
University of Wroclaw
January 2010

Singapore’s Relations with the United States and

Malaysia

Table of Contents
Singapore’s Relations with the United States and Malaysia...............................................1
Introduction......................................................................................................................1
Singapore and the United States......................................................................................2
Singapore – United States Trade..................................................................................3
Singapore and United States as Defense Partners........................................................3
Singapore and Malaysia...................................................................................................5
Singapore-Malaysian Disputes....................................................................................5
Improved Singapore-Malaysian Relations...................................................................6
Sources.............................................................................................................................7

Introduction

Singapore maintains diplomatic relations with 175 countries although it does not
maintain a high commission or embassy in many of those countries. It is a member of the
United Nations, the Commonwealth, ASEAN and the Non-Aligned Movement. As part
of its role in the United Nations, Singapore held a rotational seat on the UN Security
Council from 2001-2002. It participated in UN peacekeeping/observer missions in
Kuwait, Angola, Namibia, Cambodia, and East Timor. As a small state without natural
resources, Singapore has established a foreign policy that is conducive for cultivating
external bilateral relations.
 Singapore has trade and defense relations with the United States which are very
crucial. The United States is perceived as a stabilizing force in East Asia to
counterbalance the regional powers.

Due to obvious geographical reasons, Singapore’s relations with Malaysia are

very important. This essay will deal with Singapore’s relations with the United States and
Malaysia.

Singapore and the United States

Since its independence in 1965, Singapore has maintained formal diplomatic

relations with the United States (US).

Singapore's efforts to maintain economic growth and political stability and its
support for regional cooperation harmonize with US policy in the region and form a solid
basis for amicable relations between the two countries. The US and Singapore have a
Free Trade Agreement between them. The growth of US investment in Singapore and the
large number of Americans living there enhance opportunities for contact between
Singapore and the US. Many Singaporeans visit and study in the US.

The US government sponsors visitors from Singapore each year under the
International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). The US Government provides
Fulbright Awards to enable selected American professors to teach or conduct research at
the National University of Singapore and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. It
awards scholarships to outstanding Singaporean students for graduate studies at
American universities and to American students to study in Singapore. The US
government also sponsors occasional cultural presentations in Singapore. The East-West
Center and private American organizations, such as the Asia Foundation and Ford
Foundation, also sponsor exchanges involving Singaporeans.
Singapore – United States Trade

Singapore was the US’s 11th largest export market in the first nine months of
2009. In 2003, Singapore and the US signed the United States-Singapore Free Trade
Agreement (USSFTA), which came into force in January 2004. This was the first free
trade agreement that the US entered into with an East Asian country.

The agreement has helped Singapore exporters to benefit from tariff concessions,
increase competitiveness and attract investors.

The USSFTA outlines the duties and obligations of Singapore and the US with
regard to areas such as trade in goods and services, customs procedures, movement of
business persons, intellectual property protection and the environment. It also sets out the
guidelines for dispute settlement procedures.

The USSFTA covers trade in goods, rules of origin, customs administration,

technical barriers to trade, trade remedies, cross border trade in services, financial
services, temporary entry, telecommunications, e-commerce, investment, competition,
government procurement, intellectual property protection, transparency, general
provisions, labour, environment, dispute settlement.

During the first five years of the USSFTA (2004 to 2009), two-way trade has
increased 41 percent and US exports by nearly 74 percent. In the same period, two-way
trade in services increased 35.4 percent and US exports of services by 20 percent to
US$7.2 billion. In 2007, Singapore was the second largest recipient of US investment in
Asia after Japan ($101.6 billion), and the twelfth largest recipient worldwide.

Singapore and United States as Defense Partners

 Singapore and the US are defense partners; Singapore buys a large number of
weapon systems from the US, and has close ties such as the F-16 detachment stationed at
Luke Air Force Base. In return, the US Navy is allowed to use Singaporean naval
facilities, including the newly constructed Changi Naval Base designed with USN aircraft
carriers in mind. Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 1990, the US military
is permitted to use Paya Lebar Airbase and Sembawang wharves; a US naval logistic unit
was established in Singapore in 1992.

The Regional Emerging Diseases Intervention Centre (REDI) which opened on 24

May 2004 is a joint US-Singapore collaboration to promote cooperation in tackling
emerging infectious diseases. The centre facilitates the exchange of information and
expertise on surveillance; prevention and control of, and research on, communicable and
non-communicable diseases; and on bioterrorism concerns.

The US and Singapore formalized an increasingly close working defense

relationship in July 2005 when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and President George
W. Bush signed the Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) in Washington. This
agreement opened “a new chapter in strategic cooperation” and identified the US and
Singapore as “major security cooperation partners.”

Through the SFA the US and Singapore address issues such as counter terrorism,
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, emerging Asian powers, American
engagement in Asia, and the maintenance of regional security.

The US seeks to promote maritime security cooperation in the area of the

strategically important Straits of Malacca by working with Singapore, Malaysia and
Indonesia to develop a command, control, and communications infrastructure that will
facilitate cooperation in the area of maritime surveillance of the Straits. Approximately,
one third of world trade and half the world’s oil transits the Straits of Malacca. Singapore
is a key logistical hub positioned strategically between the Indian Ocean and the South
China Sea. It is also strategically significant because Singapore is the only non-US base
port capable of docking an American aircraft carrier in the region.

Singapore and Malaysia

Singapore was formerly part of Malaysia but was separated in 1965 due to
political differences and racial tension. There remains a high degree of economic and
social inter-dependence between the two countries. For example, Singapore imports the
vast majority of fresh meat and vegetables from Malaysia, and Malaysia supplies a large
fraction of Singapore's fresh water according to two treaties.

Many Malaysians work in Singapore, some living in Singapore as permanent

residents, while many also commute from Johor Bahru daily. Bilateral relations are
complex and have experienced many highs and lows over the last 40 years.

Singapore-Malaysian Disputes

Singapore has several long-standing disputes with Malaysia over a number of issues:

Water Issue

Singapore suffers from major water scarcity. Malaysia has always been a reliable
provider of water to Singapore, but Malaysia has often used threats of cutting off the
water supply to pressure Singapore politically.

Pedra Branca Dispute

The island known as Pedra Branca is located 24 nautical miles (44 km) off the
east coast of Singapore with a land area of 2,000 m2 (2,392 sq yd). The island also
comprises the Middle Rocks, two clusters of rocks situated 0.6 nmi (1.1 km) south of the
main island. Both countries had staked a claim on the island and were unable to settle the
dispute themselves. The case was heard at the International Court of Justice in 2007, with
both parties presenting their case. The court delivered its judgment on 23 May 2008,
ruling that Singapore would own Pedra Branca and Malaysia would own Middle Rocks.
Ownership of South Ledge, a nearby rock formation which can be seen only at low tide is
still disputed.

Land Reclamation

Singapore carried out land reclamation works in the southwestern end of the
island Tuas Development. This resulted in a territorial dispute as Malaysia claims the
land reclamation works has encroached into its territorial waters in an area called the
"Point 20 sliver". Singapore does not recognize the "point 20 sliver" as under Malaysian
sovereignty.

Others

Other disputes include relocating the Singapore station of Malaysia's Keretapi

Tanah Melayu from Tanjong Pagar to Bukit Timah and moving Malaysia's immigration
checkpoint from the railway station to the Causeway. Singapore has not allowing laid off
Malaysian workers, employed in Singapore shipyards in 1998, to receive their Central
Provident Funds (CPF) contributions, which are estimated to be RM2.4 billion.

These disputes demonstrate that the relations between Singapore and Malaysia
continue to be driven by fundamentally competitive forces which show little sign of
dissipating in the foreseeable future. Shared key interests such as the economic inter-
linkages as well as the fight against terrorism may have mitigated the intensity of
differences to a certain extent but the overall tone remains conflictual.

Improved Singapore-Malaysian Relations

 Relations between the two countries has improved in recent years, especially
since the transition of leadership in both governments. These relations improved by leaps
and bounds when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over the post as Prime Minister.
Mahathir bin Mohamad, the ex-Prime Minister, still raises claims regarding Singapore's
intentions in a number of matters, such as land reclamation. In 26 April 2005, the two
countries signed a settlement agreement concerning Singapore's land reclamation in and
around the Straits of Johor.

Both countries exchanged many high-level visits in 2004 and 2005, including the
visit to Singapore in 12 January 2004 by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi who had just taken over from Mahathir bin Mohamad in October 2003.

Sources

• Information Paper on the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (USSFTA), 16

May 2003
• Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs Brochure
• U.S. Trade with Singapore: 2009 (Jan-Sep) vs. 2008 (Jan-Sep), Department of
Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, BEA, and ITA
• http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2798.htm#relations September 2009
• Singapore’s Troubled Relations with Malaysia by Chang Li Lin, Southeast Asian
Affairs 2003
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Singapore#Malaysia Accessed:
January 20, 2010