Singapore's Role as a Neutral Interpreter of China to the West

Western reportage of China has long suffered from an inherent bias against China. Singapore's close relationship with both the West and China gives it a unique advantage as a more neutral interpreter of China for the Western world. After the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, Tan Kah Kee chaired the China Relief Fund, which raised money to defend China against the Japanese. Relations between Singapore and China eventually normalized when China opened up in the late 1970s and stopped supporting communist movements in the region. Singapore's perspective of China is primarily informed by its need to balance its relationship with both China and the West. As a result, Singapore's reportage of China does not suffer from the biases of seeing China as a competitor or an ally. Singapore wants good relations with both China and the United States.