Publication

In this speech transcript, Singapore’s Ambassador-at-large Bilahari Kausikar describes the regional tensions in East Asia and how these are informed by competition between China and the US. His main argument is that those assessing the region and US-China relations should not try to shoehorn the complexity of the situation into one that would reflect the binary conflict of the Cold War in which regional actors are forced to choose between the great powers. Indeed, he suggests that if countries in the region come to a position when they need to choose, they will have failed strategically in maintaining their independence. He also discusses the approach countries in the region should adopt to maintain their maneuverability between the US and China.