ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the evolution of Singapore's increasingly difficult relationship with China against a convoluted backdrop of developments, including the landmark ruling by the arbitral tribunal on 12 July 2016, denying Chinese claims to huge swathes of the South China Sea. It begins with a review of the changing nature of Singapore ties with China. Arguably, the two countries have continued to maintain a warm relationship ever since the beginning of international détente in the 1970s, in part because ‘there are no outstanding issues and no areas of open conflict’ between them. As part of President Barack Obama's rebalance strategy, the Defence and Security (SFA) was subsequently reinforced by the launch in February 2012 of the Singapore-US Strategic Partnership Dialogue (SPD), a formal annual dialogue described by a former US ambassador to Singapore as a 'move up a weight class' in bilateral relations.
