‘Soft power’ vital in connected world: DPM Tan
June 28, 2005
New Straits Times
By Leslie Koh
Nations with a global Reach today may have achieved their status through the use of “hard power.”
But “soft power” will count more in today’s connected world, Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan suggested yesterday.
The United States has prevailed on both fronts through hits military might, and its economic and cultural influence on the rest of the world.
But Dr Tan sees China’s growing soft power—from its status as an economic giant and through cultural and other activities—as boosting Beijing’s influence.
Named after former US president Dwight Eisenhower, the fellowship is a network of emerging leaders from around the world.
The meeting is focused on Asia’s emerging order and the US’ role, as well as Asia’s global companies.
In his speech, Dr Tan noted, among other things, how the balance of soft power between the US and China in Asia had changed: “Today, we find global brands like Nike and Coca-Cola in Shanghai, while Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has become the highest grossing non-English film of all time.”
Even American and Japanese film producers such as Warner Brothers and Sony Pictures were going into joint ventures with Chinese counterparts.
And by becoming a major trading partner of many Asian countries and drawing students to its shores to study, for instance, China had increased its influence in global politics.
This was evident from the division between the European Union and Washington over the lifting of an embargo on arms sales to China.
Dr Tan’s view on soft power generated comments amount participants, including one who suggested that an emerging China with growing global influence may be making Washington uncomfortable.
Former Singapore ambassador to the United Nations Kishore Mahbubani, for instance, asked during a discussion after Dr Tan’s speech if Washington would welcome China as a new economic power like it did Japan and Germany.
It prompted a reply from an American participant that any country should feel welcome, if it “played by the rules” on issues such as trade and intellectual property.
Earlier, another participant asked Dr Tan how institutions could help the US boost its soft power.
He replied that think-tanks, universities and cultural troupes could increase Washington’s goodwill in the region, and thus influence thinking, especially among young people.
In his speech, he said that networks, dialogues and forums help in the exercise of soft power as these provide avenues for interaction and confidence building.
US ‘thoughtlessly disengaged’ from Asia?
Is the United States “thoughtlessly disengaged” from Asia, or is it continuing to play a significant role in the region?
Diplomats and academics at the Eisenhower Fellowships conference discussed this after Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan noted Washington’s changing role in the region.
Mr Kishore Mahbubani, Singapore’s former ambassador to the United Nations, fuelled the discussion further when he suggested that the US had drawn inwards after the Cold War ended.
It had started a process of ‘thoughtless disengagement with the world’, and this led to instability in places such as the Middle East, he said.
But US Envoy to Thailand Ralph Boyce, his fellow panelist, disagreed.
He argued that if the world’s sole superpower was not firmly established in the region, it would not have been able to launch its aid in Indonesia to help victims of last year’s tsunami so quickly.
The US was committed to Asia and played significant roles in environmental and health issues and the effort again human trafficking, for instance.
These and its tsunami efforts were examples of how the US was exercising its “soft power” in Asia, he said.
Earlier, Associate Professor Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, had also asked Dr Tan if the US was paying enough attention to Asia.
Dr Tan replied that Washington was playing a major role around the world and in Asia, especially on issues such as counter-terrorism.
But he reminded that interaction between the US and the region was a “two-way exchange”.
Both Sides had to engage each other through networks and institutions such as the Eisenhower Fellowships and the US-Asean Business Council.