March 10, 2023

‘Singapore’s response to China’s influence in Asean critical to regional peace: Historian Wang Gungwu’ (Straits Times, March 2023) covers Professor Wang Gungwu’s (NUS History and East Asian Institute) comments from his lecture ‘Living With Civilisations: Reflections On South-east Asia’s Local And National Cultures’ delivered at the Institute of Policy Studies.

In this lecture, Prof Wang spoke about the impact of China’s influence in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He framed the issue as one of civilisation and modernity. China has now grown to be large and influential enough to be a model of civilisation and modernity in a way that is different from the United States (US). In a sense, the US-China rivalry is one of civilisational leadership: which country can best enable its allies to develop economically and civilisationally?

However, Prof Wang also says that this influence is also a matter of identity. One source of China’s strength is its nationalism. In the context of ASEAN, he notes that the call for the ethnic Chinese population in Southeast Asia to be aligned with China’s ambitions might become concerning. As the only country with a majority population of ethnic Chinese, Prof Wang says that Singapore’s response in this regard is of crucial importance in ASEAN. This is particularly because ASEAN’s survival and continued relevance are based on harmony between multi-cultural civilisations.

In this vein, he argues that it is in Singapore’s interest to emphasise common civilisational development over nationalist civilisational development.

Read the Straits Times article here: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/s-pore-s-response-to-china-s-influence-in-asean-critical-to-regional-peace-historian

Watch Prof Wang’s lecture here: https://youtu.be/diggijt8tk4