NATO should tread carefully in the Indo-Pacific
NATO’s incursion into the Indo-Pacific region is a move that will exacerbate regional conflicts and tensions. That’s because NATO cannot be separated from the history of European colonialism and imperialism that shaped modern Asia — and plays a major role in Chinese nationalism today.
In 2022, NATO declared that China was a “challenge” to the alliance’s “interests, security and values.” Recently, NATO has argued that possible Chinese assistance to Russia in its war against Ukraine makes China a military threat to Europe.
NATO is opening a liaison office in Japan and is partners with Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. This may be a first step to deeper European involvement in Asia’s security architecture.
Japan argues that the war in Ukraine has destabilized the world, and has invited NATO into the Indo-Pacific to deter China. However, NATO is widely distrusted in the non-Western world.
NATO: An American puppet?
Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has acted as an extension of American power. NATO’s bombing of Kosovo and Serbia in 1999 violated the United Nations Charter.
NATO’s intervention in Afghanistan was authorized by the UN, but it assisted the illegal and devastating US invasion of Iraq by freeing American military resources.
The UN Security Council also gave the green light to NATO’s intervention in Libya, but NATO states violated the terms of that resolution to pursue their own political and economic objectives in the North African country. The result was the destruction of Libya and the spread of instability across North Africa. There are no states in Africa that would call NATO “a defensive alliance.”
Very few countries support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, the non-Western world — including most of Southeast Asia — generally accepts Russia’s claim that it invaded Ukraine to protect itself against the expansion of NATO. To much of the world, the reality of Western militarism makes Russia’s arguments entirely plausible.
China fuels regional prosperity
Most Southeast Asian states have set aside their historical grievances with the West. They are committed to an international system that — somewhat accidentally — has served them well.
Regional states are concerned about the rise of China and its acts of intimidation. Yet China is the No 1 trading partner of most Asian states. Regional prosperity depends on China’s success.
Asians are cautious about western provocations over issues like Taiwan. Asians want the US present to balance China’s power, but that doesn’t mean they want a European military alliance operating in their region.
In particular, states that are part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) want to manage regional security without outside interference.
Southeast Asians’ perception of a predatory international system is based on their experiences with European colonialism. Their focus on protecting state sovereignty is directly linked to this history. Their stated preference is to build economic and diplomatic connections to manage regional conflict.
China has also prospered under the existing system and has a stake in its continuation. But it’s considered a threat because it will not be subservient to western power, especially American.
Consequently, it’s been encircled by more than 300 American military bases and subjected to intense US economic and technological sanctions.
Century of humiliation
Chinese nationalism has been stoked by what’s known as the “century of humiliation” from 1839 to 1949, when European powers, the US and Japan took part in seizing Chinese territory, imposing unequal treaties and brutalizing the Chinese people.
NATO is a European military alliance that is establishing a strong working relationship with Japan. This plays directly into China’s concerns that the same powers that humiliated it in the past are lining up for a second attempt.
Asian states that find the Russian explanation for the war in Ukraine plausible will clearly be concerned that NATO’s move into the region is duplicating the same hostile dynamic of backing an adversary into a corner.
For the past several centuries, world politics have been defined by Western colonialism and violence. That era never really ended.
After the Second World War, Europe passed the torch of global Western imperialism to the US Since the end of the Cold War, the US — often assisted by NATO states — has frequently engaged in illegal violence around the world, most notably with its invasion of Iraq.
Therefore, it’s not surprising NATO claims that it’s merely a “defensive alliance” are viewed skeptically in the non-Western world. What is surprising is that Western powers seemingly cannot understand why their insistence that they represent a “rules-based international order” fails to resonate with much of the globe.
NATO’s growing presence in the Pacific evokes a painful history that the western world has never confronted or fully acknowledged. NATO ignores how its recent actions affect how it’s perceived in the larger world and how those actions lend credence to states that see NATO as a threat.
Its presence in the Indo-Pacific can easily be construed as a new attempt to reassert Western military domination of the region.
Shaun Narine is Professor of International Relations and Political Science, St. Thomas University (Canada)
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
CNA Explains: Why chips are an increasingly prominent issue in US-China tensions
US President Joe Biden on May 21 defended his country’s actions, a day after the G7 economies warned China over its “militarisation activities”.
He said: “It is building its military, and that’s why I’ve made it clear that I am not prepared to trade certain items with China.
“We’ve now got commitment from all of our allies that they’re not going to do that either, provide that kind of material.”
The issue of chips, then, has become more prominent now due to their dual use for civilian and military purposes, Assoc Prof Araral told CNA.
“The US wants to slow down the buildup of China’s military capacity by slowing down its access to powerful dual-use chips.”
Mitigating security risks is also high among China’s priorities.
In 2021, China announced rules to protect its critical information infrastructure with stricter data security requirements.
It also amended its anti-espionage law in April by widening the definition of spying and banning the transfer of any data related to what its authorities define as national security.
On the chips front, China, which is the world’s largest buyer of semiconductors, has gradually reduced its reliance on foreign-made chips in its efforts to boost self-sufficiency.
But the US export controls are making China’s task of catching up even harder, including the need to rapidly fill a shortage of expertise.
According to a white paper jointly published by a Chinese government think tank and a trade group, the country is short of an estimated 200,000 industry workers this year.
Assoc Prof Araral noted it would take time for China to develop its own indigenous chips technology, with estimates suggesting that China is “at least seven years behind” the US in chips capabilities.
WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE THIS, AND IS IT REALLY JUST ABOUT CHIPS?
US-China relations have become increasingly strained in recent years, with a string of high-profile incidents putting the tensions under the spotlight.
In March, TikTok’s Singaporean CEO Chew Shou Zi was grilled in a committee hearing in March, after lawmakers became concerned that Beijing can access American user data through the popular Chinese-owned social media app.
Before that, a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over US airspace and was shot down by the US military, prompting a strong response from Beijing. China described Washington’s actions as “clearly overreacting and seriously violating international practice”.
Both countries also in recent months charged individuals on grounds of national security.
For example, China sentenced a 78-year-old US citizen to life in prison for espionage, according to a court statement on May 15.
US corporate due diligence firm Mintz was raided by Chinese authorities in March at their Beijing office, where five local staff members were detained. China said the firm was suspected of engaging in unlawful business operations.
“If you put that together with some of the punitive actions that the government here in Beijing has taken against several American companies recently, we’re very concerned about this,” said US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns in May.
Chinese police later also visited US management consultancy Bain & Company’s office in Shanghai and questioned staff there.
In another incident, US federal agents in April arrested two New York City residents for allegedly operating a Chinese “secret police station”. They face charges of conspiring to act as agents of China’s government without informing US authorities, and obstruction of justice.
“This chips rivalry is part and parcel of a bigger game being played by the US and China – essentially a tit-for-tat game. The ban on Micron is China’s response to the US Chips Act which restricts China’s access to US-designed chips and equipment,” said Assoc Prof Araral.
WHERE DOES TAIWAN FIT INTO THE PICTURE?
According to a 2021 Boston Consulting Group report, Taiwan is home to 90 per cent of the manufacturing capacity for the world’s most advanced semiconductors.
The island’s Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the world’s largest contract chip maker and a major supplier to US manufacturers.
With its industry-leading expertise, matching its scale and skills would take a long time and cost a fortune.
It was reported last year that TSMC was set to more than triple its planned investment in its Arizona plant to US$40 billion, making it one of the largest foreign investments in US history.
Given Taiwan’s significance in the chip industry, the island’s relationship with the US ups the stakes further.
Over the past three years, China has increased its military presence around Taiwan in a bid to assert its sovereignty claim on the self-governed island. Taiwan rejects the claim and vows to protect its freedom and democracy.
While the threat from China continues to loom over Taiwan, it has sought closer ties with the US.
In April, US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy met Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen in California despite China’s protest. In response, China launched three days of military drills around Taiwan.
“If this is a game of chess, Taiwan would be the Queen because it is a major player in the chips game,” said Assoc Prof Araral, adding that it was the reason why the US got Taiwan to move its most advanced chip facilities to Arizona and Japan.
Should there be a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, it could potentially halt production by TSMC and wipe out almost US$1 trillion each year from the global economy during the first few years, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said recently.
“It will also have an impact on our (US) GDP if there was such an invasion of Taiwan and that (TSMC’s production) was blocked,” she said.
But she also cautioned: “It would also have an impact, if they stopped making chips, on China’s economy.”
WHAT LIES AHEAD?
China is trying to play catch-up in the US$580 billion semiconductor industry by boosting its advanced semiconductor capacity.
But according to a report in The Guardian, China’s growth has been concentrated in manufacturers who produce chips that are bigger and less advanced.
And that’s not the only problem it faces in transforming the industry at home.
The industry has also been plagued by entrepreneurs creating fraudulent operations to get government subsidies. To fix this, the Chinese government has revoked the licences of about 6,000 chip companies – an increase of almost 70 per cent since 2021.
Coupled with ongoing chip bans and the fact that factories cost billions of dollars to build and equip, it will be difficult for companies to recoup their investments.
The US export controls appear to be hitting China hard.
Chips imports declined by 23 per cent in the first three months of 2023 compared with the same period last year, according to data published by the General Administration of Customs.
However, China won’t be the only one bearing the brunt if the situation worsens.
On May 27, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo vowed that the country “won’t tolerate” China’s effective ban on purchases of Micron memory chips, adding that it is working closely with allies to address such “economic coercion”.
But American think tank Atlantic Council said that in the event US’ semiconductor sales to China drop to zero, US companies would face a loss of US$83 billion per year. Also at stake are 124,000 jobs, as estimated by the American Chamber of Commerce.
In addition to US consumers experiencing inflation and possible supply chain disruptions, “global implications will be dire as well,” said the think tank.
“The chips war is key to the outcomes of US-China rivalry and therefore it matters to the rest of the world. What we will have would be two technological standards – one US-led and the other China-led, which is not necessarily bad,” noted Assoc Prof Araral.
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HDB launches 5,500 BTO flats for sale, most will be ready in under 4 years
SINGAPORE: A total of 5,495 Build-to-Order (BTO) flats were launched for sale on Tuesday (May 30), spread across five projects in the housing estates of Bedok, Kallang Whampoa, Serangoon and Tengah.
Nearly 90 per cent of the BTO flats, in four of the five projects on offer, have a waiting time of less than four years, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) said in a press release.
This makes the May BTO sales exercise one of the BTO launches with the highest proportion of flats in recent years to be completed in less than four years, it said.
The median waiting time for the flats launched in May is about three years and five months, added HDB.
Those who are looking to move into their flats sooner can consider applying for the flats at Parc Meadow @ Tengah, which has a waiting time ranging from three years and one month to three years and four months.
The waiting times for the other four projects – Plantation Verge in Tengah, Bedok South Blossoms, Serangoon North Vista and Farrer Park Arena – range from three years and five months to four years.
HDB on Tuesday said another 1,500 Sale of Balance Flats (SBF) units were also being offered for sale.
STRONG DEMAND IN BEDOK AND SERANGOON
A wide selection of flats, ranging from two-room flexi units to 3Gen flats, is offered to meet diverse housing needs, HDB said of the current sales exercise.
In particular, five-room flats will be offered in the mature towns of Bedok and Serangoon, making up more than 40 per cent of the total five-room flat supply in the May BTO launch.
“As it has been several years since the last BTO launch in the towns of Bedok and Serangoon, strong demand for the BTO flats at Bedok South Blossoms and Serangoon North Vista can be expected,” HDB said.
According to Huttons Asia’s senior director for research Lee Sze Teck, the last BTO launch in Bedok South was in November 2006. With the last BTO launch in Bedok estate coming in 2016, demand is likely to be high.
“The near seven-year absence of a BTO project (in Bedok) may see higher number of applicants for Bedok South Blossoms,” Mr Lee said.
“This BTO is very near to Tanah Merah MRT where a mixed-use project Sceneca Residence is being built. Buyers of this BTO can stroll over to Sceneca Square for their amenities or take a train down to Bedok Mall, which is one stop away.”
Serangoon will likely draw similar interest, Mr Lee said.
“Back in Jan 2014, a studio apartment BTO (in Serangoon) was launched. But it is not a like-for-like comparison, hence the demand for new HDB flats at Serangoon North Vista could be large. Furthermore, this BTO project has five-room flats, which is seldom offered in mature estates … (and) Serangoon North Vista is near to Serangoon Gardens and Chomp Chomp Food Centre,” he added.
The new flats will be priced considerably lower than the transacted prices of comparable resale flats due to significant market discounts, HDB added.
Eligible first-timer families can benefit from the Enhanced CPF Housing Grant (EHG) of up to S$80,000 (US$59,165).
With the EHG, flat buyers may pay as little as S$163,000 for a three-room flat and S$290,000 for a four-room flat in the non-mature estate of Tengah, and may service their mortgage through CPF, with little to no cash outlay, HDB said.
In the mature estates where prices are higher, the prices after grants start from S$260,000 and S$403,000 for a three-room and four-room flat respectively, in Bedok.
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EU-Singapore in a deepening digital embrace
SINGAPORE – Singapore hopes to begin negotiations on a digital free trade agreement with the European Union, one of its major trading partners, as soon as this year, building on a non-binding digital partnership agreed between the two sides in February, according to Singapore’s Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran.
Addressing a business outreach event on Monday (May 29), Iswaran said Singapore and the EU are in the process of identifying projects to pursue through the partnership, which aims to strengthen the interoperability of digital markets and policy frameworks between the two sides, with the ultimate goal of enabling consumers and businesses to transact online at a lower cost.
The principles established in the EU-Singapore Digital Partnership (EUSDP) represent “the first step towards a bilateral digital trade agreement between the EU and Singapore [that] will give our citizens and businesses the clarity and legal certainty they need to transact confidently in the digital economy,” said Iswaran, who is also Singapore’s transport minister.
“We look forward to launching negotiations on a digital trade agreement with the EU soon hopefully, during Sweden’s Presidency of the EU Council,” Iswaran added, potentially placing digital trade talks in the first half of 2023 when Stockholm serves as rotating council chair, building on an existing Singapore-EU bilateral free trade agreement that entered into force in November 2019.
Known as the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA), the deal was the first of its kind between the EU and a member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and is regarded as a template for a wider future trade pact with regional economies. Trade experts, however, note that an EU-ASEAN agreement is highly ambitious and remains a long way off.
A future EU-Singapore digital trade agreement would similarly be seen as a stepping stone for closer region-to-region connectivity. The EU’s digital partnership with Singapore is the third such agreement signed with a key trading partner in Asia after partnerships with Japan and South Korea were concluded last May and November, respectively.
The EUSDP aims to facilitate research and regulatory cooperation in areas ranging from 5G and 6G service adoption, artificial intelligence (AI) governance and semiconductor supply chain resilience. It also seeks common rules on cross-border data flows, electronic invoicing and payments to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with more open access to overseas markets.
“The Singapore-EU partnership is not a binding agreement yet. It should be viewed as the first steps of potentially creating one,” Deborah Elms, founder and executive director of the Asian Trade Centre, a Singapore-based trade research and advisory firm, told Asia Times. “While Singapore clearly has no particular issues signing binding commitments on digital and has done so repeatedly already, the same is not true for the EU.”
Elms, who is also president of the Asia Business Trade Association, added that the EU has the challenge of managing “27 member states with varying levels of readiness and enthusiasm for digital trade. This always makes it hard for the EU to act, particularly on new issues like digital. Getting the EU to a comfortable place for signing up to commitments can be time-consuming.”
Data privacy differences may prove difficult to bridge said Elms, pointing out that Singapore has not made a binding commitment to align with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), considered the toughest privacy and security law in the world, while instead implementing a different standard known as Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CPBR).
“The two systems are not incompatible but they aren’t exactly aligned either. Figuring out how to bridge the gaps could take time. If you stick to a framework, it may not be a problem to have two systems, but if you want to create legally binding commitments, fudging the differences can be harder. Time is also not standing still while the EU and Singapore sort out the partnership,” Elms said.
The EUSDP, which essentially serves as a set of digital trade principles, builds on Singapore’s extensive network of free trade agreements and digital cooperation initiatives, reinforcing its role as a global business hub. Key priorities for implementation in 2023 include common approaches in electronic identification and AI governance and facilitating the digital transformation of SMEs.
Singapore is a major destination for European investments in Asia, with bilateral foreign direct investment stock between the EU and Singapore expanding to an estimated 434 billion euros (US$464 billion) in 2022. Singapore is also the EU’s second-largest commercial partner in ASEAN, with more than 10,000 European companies headquartered in the city-state to serve the wider region.
“Integration with the rest of Southeast Asia is key for our companies who are looking to grow and expand. We need to have everyone working seamlessly together – not just the EU and Singapore, but the rest of the region,” said Jenny Egermark, chargé d’affaires at the Embassy of Sweden in Singapore. “That is the dream and long-term goal that we are working towards.”
Speeding driver lost control of Mercedes before crashing into Gojek driver’s car, killing him
The impact of the collision cracked and crumpled the front bumper of Ng’s car, punctured all four tyres and twisted two wheel rims.
The crash crumpled the bonnet and top portion of the Gojek driver’s car, ripped off its front bumper and smashed both windscreens.
The other vehicles were also damaged in the accident, with the bills running into the thousands – the family’s car cost almost S$19,000 (US$14,036) to repair, while the Gojek driver’s car was scrapped as it was too damaged to be fixed.
The Gojek driver, Mr Kenn Wong Mun Soon, was on the job when his car was hit. He suffered a fatal traumatic rupture of the descending thoracic aorta, the main artery in the body, and died in hospital after resuscitation efforts failed.
The other five victims, including two passengers in the Gojek car, suffered injuries ranging from lacerations, embedded glass, retrograde amnesia, fractures and a traumatic brain injury.
The two children were not injured.
The motorcyclist who was crushed between two vehicles is likely to experience stiffness in his knee and ankle, and decreased endurance in strenuous lower limb activities.
His motorcycle, which was valued at S$6,500, was also scrapped as it could not be repaired.
Ng failed a breathalyser test administered at the scene and was arrested and taken back to Traffic Police Headquarters, where he failed another breath test. He had 42 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath, above the limit of 35 microgrammes.
Ng will return to court for mitigation and sentencing in July. He is represented by lawyers Shashi Nathan and Jeremy Mark Pereira from Withers KhattarWong.
For dangerous driving causing death, he can be jailed between two and eight years as a first-time offender. He can also be banned from driving for 10 years.
The penalties for drink driving for a first-time offender are a jail term of up to 12 months, a fine of between S$2,000 and S$10,000, or both. They can also be banned from driving for two years.
Repeat offenders can be jailed for up to two years and fined between S$5,000 and S$20,000. They face a driving ban of five years.
Lee Kuan Yew Centennial Fund launched to support students and develop young leaders
SINGAPORE: A fund that will support about 2,000 students each year to develop young leaders in Singapore was launched on Tuesday (May 30) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s birth.
Called the Lee Kuan Yew Centennial Fund, it was established with donations from private and people sectors and has collected over S$82 million (US$60.6m) to date.
The late Mr Lee was born on Sep 16, 1923. He died at the age of 91 in 2015.
Through the activities marking the 100th anniversary of Mr Lee’s birth, Singapore can reflect on Mr Lee’s values and principles and that of its founding generation of leaders, said Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in his opening address at the launch.
“One enduring lesson is the importance of developing our young people, and helping them to realise their full potential, to be the best versions of yourselves. Because at the end of the day, our people are the only resource that Singapore has,” said Mr Wong.
“That’s why even in our early years, when we struggled to make ends meet, Mr Lee made investing in our people a top priority. He would regularly engage young people, encourage them to get involved in society and contribute to nation-building.”
The fund started as a ground-up initiative by business leaders to invest in and support the development of Singapore youth to “become visionary leaders with the imagination and determination to shape Singapore’s future as an exceptional nation”, said the Ministry of Education (MOE) in a press release.
The government will support this fund by providing a one-off dollar-for-dollar matching of donations for up to S$50 million (US$37m), said Mr Wong.
The fund will be managed under MOE’s Education Fund. It will be used to support the Singapore Young Leaders Programme, which was also launched by Mr Wong on Tuesday, and the Lee Kuan Yew Post-Graduate Scholarship for Urban Greenery and Ecology.
On top of that, it will also help expand the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship Awards, and provide additional support for up to 1,000 Institute of Technical Education and polytechnic students from disadvantaged backgrounds who “demonstrate resilience and potential”, said MOE in the press release.
The Singapore Young Leaders Programme will allow about 1,000 student leaders across the institutes of higher learning to participate in leadership modules held throughout the year, the press release read.
These include institution-based programmes such as the National University of Singapore’s Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum, the National Youth Council’s leaders course and engagement sessions with industry and government representatives.
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