THE PLACE OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN SINO-SINGAPORE RELATIONS: MANAGING 'CHINESENESS'

Abstract

Singapore’s Chineseness, an implication of its majority-Chinese identity, has been a long standing concern in the Southeast Asian state’s foreign policy. In particular, with the rise of China and a shifting global power balance, the changing connotations of Singapore’s Chineseness add to the conundrum of Singapore’s majority-Chinese identity. With the 2016 crisis in Sino-Singapore relations presenting critical reminders of the need to manage expectations and perceptions of Singapore’s Chineseness, this paper seeks to explore the understudied role of public diplomacy in Singapore’s foreign policy. In positing a place for public diplomacy in Sino-Singapore relations, this paper explores how Singapore represents its Chineseness in its communication towards the PRC-Chinese public. It seeks to lay out an analytical framework to make sense of Singapore’s identity construction pertaining to its Chineseness.