Singapore warns on anti-China talk in US election

Thursday, February 09, 2012

WASHINGTON, USA (AP) — Singapore has warned US politicians not to bash China during the election campaign.

Foreign Minister K Shanmugam told a Washington think tank on Tuesday that anti-China rhetoric could spark reactions that affect the wider Asia-Pacific region.

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers and Republican presidential contenders have taken aim at China, accusing it of discriminatory policies that cost Americans their jobs. Lawmakers also have voiced misgivings about China's military build-up.

"Domestic pressures in the US and the demands of elections have resulted in some anti-China rhetoric in domestic debates. We in Singapore understand that this is electioneering," Shanmugam told a conference at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

"But Americans should not underestimate the extent to which such rhetoric can spark reactions that create a new and unintended reality in the region," he said, without specifying what the consequences might be.

The Chinese and US governments have deepened ties in the past year and have a mutual interest in stability. Still, uncertainty remains about the future of the relationship, particularly the emerging rivalry between their militaries, the world's two largest.

On both sides of the aisle in the US Congress, there has been a drumbeat of criticism against Beijing, and an inconclusive legislative push to punish China for undervaluing its currency, thereby hurting American trade. Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney has promised to cite Beijing as a currency manipulator on his first day in office should he win the November election. It is a step the Obama administration and the Republican Bush administration before it have resisted.

Some of the China-bashing has drawn strong criticism in the US

A recent campaign ad by Republican Senate hopeful Pete Hoekstra featured a young Asian woman talking in broken English about China taking away American jobs. Some said that risked reviving discrimination against Asian-Americans.

Shanmugam, on his first official visit to Washington since becoming foreign minister last year, offered some gentle criticism of the Obama administration's success in selling its China policy, even as he supported its efforts to step up its engagement in Asia.

He said US policymakers understand the need to cooperate with China, but in public debate and the media, the administration's new emphasis on Asia is often perceived as an attempt at containment of the rising power, which he said was not feasible anyway.

"To me, it's a no-brainer. Twenty-five hundred Marines stationed in Darwin does not really amount to containment," he said, referring to US plans announced by President Barack Obama in recent months to station troops in northern Australia.

Shanmugam noted that the U.S. military presence still would be far less in Asia than it was in the 1970s through to the early 1990s.

Singapore is a long-standing US ally and trading partner. The city-state has offered to berth US Navy vessels to help boost America's military presence in Southeast Asia.

But the prosperous city-state also has good relations with China. Despite Beijing's assertive behavior that has spooked some countries in the region, Singapore, like many of its neighbours, looks to maintain positive ties with both of the powers.

Shanmugam urged the US and China to ensure their relationship is based on cooperation, not confrontation. "The rise of China does not imply the decline of the US," he said.

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Singapore warns on anti-China talk in US election