Peningkatan Pengaruh China dan Dasar Luar Singapura terhadap Taiwan: Satu Kajian Kuasa Tajam dan Respons Strategik (China’s Rising Influence and Singapore’s Foreign Policy toward Taiwan: A Study of Sharp Power and Strategic Response)

Abstract

One of the issues drawing attention regarding China’s rise is how its increasing influence has impacted Singapore’s foreign policy toward Taiwan, which China regards as a part of its territory that must be reunified with mainland China in accordance with the One China Policy. Most previous literature has been dominated by analyses of the impact of China’s increasing hard power and soft power on the bilateral relations. However, the expansion of China’s sharp power has gained increasing attention in discussions of how its recent use—namely through the subtle manipulation of culture, education systems, and the media—has influenced public perception in favour of China’s interests, including the Singapore-Taiwan relationship. Thus, this article examines how China’s rising influence affects Singapore’s foreign policy toward Taiwan, not only through political and economic influence but also through sharp power in recent years, and subsequently how Singapore responds to this influence to protect its strategic interests. In contrast to the successful involvement of civil society in confronting the rise of China’s sharp power operations in Taiwan, the role and response of the Singapore government have been dominant and proactive, primarily utilizing legislation to control the expansion of China’s sharp power in the country. Using the international-domestic factor interaction analysis framework, this article finds that the dominant domestic factor, i.e. leadership interact with increasingly pressing external factor following the rise of PRC influence in shaping Singapore’s response to this great power pressure. Singapore utilizes various strategies and diplomatic and political approaches, economic and military cooperation, as well as the formulation of specific policies and laws as measures to safeguard its strategic interests.