Singapore and China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Technical support for enhanced capitalism from a small state

Singapore has consistently practiced a strategy of technical support for capitalism since Independence in 1965, and it has emphasised this role vis-à-vis China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This article thus asks, whether Singapore’s engagement with China’s BRI reflects continuity in terms of its geoeconomic strategy. It also considers the three themes captured in the Introduction of this Special Issue as central to the study of small states’ international political economy: space, power and governance. For Singapore, economic growth has always been motivated by the search for enlarged economic space, an infinite hinterland with as few borders as possible. In tandem, Singapore’s power is derived in large part from its exploitation of dependent capitalism and demonstration of neoliberal rules for economic fair play. Finally, Singapore is supporting Beijing by using banking proxies to finance infrastructure construction and other flows of production. While Singapore’s reach may appear to exceed its capacity, it defies small state limitations via the BRI.