Why Singapore's identity demanded distance from China – and its own story of nationhood
Cheong Yip Seng reflects on the intersection of geopolitics, media, and identity through the lens of his long career as editor-in-chief of The Straits Times. In this excerpt, Cheong recounts a revealing moment during an official visit to
China in 1976 with then-prime minister
Lee Kuan Yew . Among the officials present was S.R. Nathan, later
Singapore 's sixth president, who witnessed Lee subtly rebuff a Chinese attempt to influence the city state's foreign alignment.
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S.R. Nathan was in the delegation. Later, he told me this story: During Lee Kuan Yew's (LKY) talks with the Chinese, his hosts gave him a book, India's China War. It was written by Neville Maxwell, a journalist and Oxford academic.
The book was a pro-China version of the border war between India and China. LKY knew the Chinese purpose: It was trying to draw Singapore into its orbit.
According to S.R., LKY put the book aside, and responded, saying words to this effect: This is your version. There is another version of the war.
That left a deep impression on S.R. 'I was so proud of what the PM did.' Singapore would not be drawn to take sides. It was also a demonstration of LKY's commitment to multiracialism.
Veteran diplomat S.R. Nathan in Singapore in 1999, shortly before he became the country's sixth president. Photo: AFP
Three-quarters of Singaporeans are ethnic Chinese. Hence, Singapore is seen in some quarters in Indonesia and Malaysia as a subversive Third China.
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