"You are slowly developing some multinationals of your own. We certainly hope that some of them will look in this direction when they look for opportunities because the progress of Southeast Asia is important to China, just as China's progress is important to us"
About this Quote
Diplomacy rarely flatters without extracting something in return. S. R. Nathan is speaking in the polished, forward-leaning idiom of Singaporean statecraft: praise China’s rise, normalize it as mutually beneficial, then quietly steer it toward outcomes that keep Southeast Asia prosperous and strategically relevant.
The opening move, “slowly developing some multinationals of your own,” is a calibrated compliment with a timestamp. It signals China’s transition from factory floor to corporate powerhouse, but the adverb “slowly” reins in triumphalism. It’s an invitation to be seen as a responsible stakeholder, not a conqueror. Then comes the real ask: “We certainly hope that some of them will look in this direction.” The phrasing is deliberately soft; hope is non-confrontational, yet it frames Chinese outward investment as something that ought to flow into Southeast Asia, not only into the West or resource frontiers.
The subtext is hedging. For small states in China’s shadow, influence is managed through interdependence. By asserting that “the progress of Southeast Asia is important to China,” Nathan flips the usual hierarchy. Southeast Asia isn’t a passive neighborhood to be shaped; it’s a condition for China’s own success - supply chains, sea lanes, markets, stability at the periphery. The reciprocal clause, “just as China’s progress is important to us,” is the rhetorical equalizer, acknowledging reality while insisting on a shared fate rather than a one-way dependency.
Contextually, it fits Singapore’s long-running project: keep the region open, investment-rich, and non-binary - neither anti-China nor captured by it. The sentence is velvet, the strategy is steel.
The opening move, “slowly developing some multinationals of your own,” is a calibrated compliment with a timestamp. It signals China’s transition from factory floor to corporate powerhouse, but the adverb “slowly” reins in triumphalism. It’s an invitation to be seen as a responsible stakeholder, not a conqueror. Then comes the real ask: “We certainly hope that some of them will look in this direction.” The phrasing is deliberately soft; hope is non-confrontational, yet it frames Chinese outward investment as something that ought to flow into Southeast Asia, not only into the West or resource frontiers.
The subtext is hedging. For small states in China’s shadow, influence is managed through interdependence. By asserting that “the progress of Southeast Asia is important to China,” Nathan flips the usual hierarchy. Southeast Asia isn’t a passive neighborhood to be shaped; it’s a condition for China’s own success - supply chains, sea lanes, markets, stability at the periphery. The reciprocal clause, “just as China’s progress is important to us,” is the rhetorical equalizer, acknowledging reality while insisting on a shared fate rather than a one-way dependency.
Contextually, it fits Singapore’s long-running project: keep the region open, investment-rich, and non-binary - neither anti-China nor captured by it. The sentence is velvet, the strategy is steel.
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| Topic | Business |
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