I have chosen to cover the fifth core principle of Singapore’s foreign policy, “We must be a credible and consistent partner” in my essay. This principle talks about how Singapore’s credibility enables us to play a constructive role in international affairs because we handle issues fairly and with transparency (Balakrishran,2017).
Hence, I linked this principle to the case study on how the United Kingdom (UK) adopts Huawei for 5G, against the pressure from the United States of America (US). According to Cellan-Jones (2020), the US officials have continuously put pressure on European nations to boycott Huawei’s equipment for its next generation mobile 5G networks citing serious potential security risks. However, there were no substantiated technical evidence regarding their fears.
Firstly, the decision of UK to go against US pressure of the Huawei Boycott demonstrated their reliability and impartiality towards China. This exhibited how they was unafraid of putting themselves in a jeopardizing position that could offend US who is politically superior and stronger to them. This is also further supported by how these two nations had an affiliation, putting them in greater risk of “deteriorating relations” with the US (Kharpal, 2020). Despite the possible consequences they might face, their views were firm.
Additionally, the decision of boycotting Huawei laid in the hands of the UK, which allowed them to make the call without US interference (CNA, 2020). It was admirable to see that UK did not solely let the word of mouth by US sway their decision-making without any concrete proof of political attack on US by China. Furthermore, the accusations by the US against Huawei were rather “hypocritical” and marked by a “double standard” (Cabanas, 2020). Hence, UK established consistency and trustworthiness by asserting their sovereignty to make an independent and objective decision on this boycott. By going against US with logic and reasoning, it builds up trust and goodwill between UK and China, improving their bilateral relations and partnership.
A valuable lesson Singapore can learn here is to never succumb to pressure and feel intimidated by countries who are higher or more powerful than us. Being firm and rooted allows us to assert our sovereignty as a growing nation while supporting our partnering countries as a reliable associate. Giving in to pressure would only establish a reputation of Singapore as a weak-willed and overly accommodating country. Instead, we can learn from the UK on how to calculate the risks involved and resulting outcomes on both parties to come up with a fair judgment on where we stand in the situation. Hence, to conclude, being a dependable partner is an asset to both our nation and the countries that surround us as we work hand in hand and strive towards building a peaceful and progressive country.