| Mission1: | Embassy of Singapore, Washington, D.C. |
| Mission2: | Embassy of the United States, Singapore |
| Filetype: | svg |
The bilateral relations between the Republic of Singapore and the United States of America are positive. According to the U.S. Global Leadership Report, 77% of Singaporeans approved of U.S. leadership under the Obama Administration in 2010, and while this approval rating decreased slightly down to 75% in 2011, it nonetheless remains one of the highest ratings of the U.S. for any surveyed country in the Asia-Pacific region.[1]
Despite the close relationship between the two countries, on 1 April 2022, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stated that Singapore is not an ally of the U.S., will not conduct military operations on behalf of the U.S., and will not seek direct military support from the U.S.[2] This was reiterated by Lawrence Wong in 2024.[3]
In 1961 the Singaporean government arrested two CIA agents who attempted to bribe a Singaporean official in exchange for providing information to the CIA. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew requested 35 million dollars in economic aid in exchange for the covert release of the two agents. The Americans rejected this offer however and presented a counter-offer of 3.3 million dollars to be given directly to Lee and the People's Action Party. The men were later released without any financial exchange. Lee revealed this incident in 1965 which led to the Americans to deny it ever occurred, however Lee later made public a letter of apology from the US Secretary of State Dean Rusk over the incident.[4] [5] [6]
The United States first opened a consulate in Singapore in 1836, when the island was part of the Straits Settlements of the British Empire. Singapore and the United States have maintained diplomatic relations since August 11, 1965, a few days after Singapore was expelled from the Malaysian Federation. U.S. recognition of the new state was expressed in a first person diplomatic note sent to Singapore for delivery to the Foreign Minister; the note was read to the press in Washington. Department of State Bulletin, August 30, 1965, p. 357; Mark Feldman Oral History, Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, p. 24. Singapore's efforts to maintain economic growth and political stability and its support for regional cooperation harmonize with U.S. policy in the region and form a solid basis for amicable relations between the two countries.
From 1965 to 1975, the United States offered significant economic assistance to stabilise Singapore as a key segment of their containment of communism during the Cold War, and Singapore's economy industrialised through providing repair and transshipment facilities for the American forces in Vietnam.[7]
E. Mason "Hank" Hendrickson was serving as First Secretary of the United States Embassy when he was expelled by the Singapore Government in May 1988. Prior to his expulsion, he arranged for Francis Seow and Patrick Seong to travel to Washington, D.C. to meet with American officials. After their return, Singapore detained them under the Internal Security Act. Based on Seow and Seong's statements while in custody, the Singapore Government alleged that Hendrickson attempted to interfere in Singapore's internal affairs by cultivating opposition figures in a "Marxist conspiracy". First Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong claimed that Hendrickson's alleged conspiracy could have resulted in the election of 20 or 30 opposition politicians to Parliament, which in his words could lead to "horrendous" effects, possibly even the paralysis and fall of the Singapore Government.
In the aftermath of Hendrickson's expulsion, the U.S. State Department praised his performance in Singapore and denied any impropriety in his actions. The State Department also expelled Robert Chua, a senior-level Singaporean diplomat equal in rank to Mason, from Washington, D.C. in response. The State Department's refusal to reprimand Hendrickson, along with their expulsion of the Singaporean diplomat, sparked a protest in Singapore by the National Trades Union Congress; they drove buses around the U.S. embassy, held a rally attended by four thousand workers, and issued a statement deriding the U.S. as "sneaky, arrogant, and untrustworthy".
A paper published by The Heritage Foundation speculated that Singapore's angry public reaction to the Hendrickson affair may have been a response to the January 1988 termination of Singapore's eligibility for the Generalized System of Preferences, which provided tariff exemptions on Singaporean exports to the United States.
The latest meeting was held on 11 June 2018 between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and President Donald Trump at the Istana before meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un the next day.[8]
During the 2015 ASEAN Summit, when US President Barack Obama met Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Obama described the state of bilateral relations as being "very, very strong".[9]
The United States and Singapore signed the Singapore–United States Free Trade Agreement on 6 May 2003; the agreement entered into force on 1 January 2004. The growth of U.S. investment in Singapore and the large number of Americans living there enhance opportunities for contact between Singapore and the United States. Singapore is a Visa Waiver Program country.
The Singapore Government denied speculation that the signing of the FTA was linked to Singapore's support of the Iraq War coalition shortly before the signing.[10] [11]
Singapore has long standing military relations with the United States. The United States sells arms to Singapore and provides access to its bases to train the Singaporean military outside of their small island city-state. Under the U.S.–Singapore Strategic Framework Agreement, some U.S. Navy littoral combat ships are rotationally deployed to Singapore's Changi Naval Base. Air Force One also lands at Paya Lebar Air Base whenever the president visits the country. On September 23, 2019, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and US President Donald Trump renewed a key defence pact which allows American forces to use Singapore's air and naval bases, extending it by another 15 years to 2035.[12] On 1 April 2022, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong emphasised that Singapore is not an ally of the United States, Singapore will not be involved in a war of the United States or ask the United States to come to the rescue when something happens to Singapore.[2]
See main article: Singaporean response to Hurricane Katrina.
Following that devastation of the United States Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina, three Singaporean CH-47 Chinook helicopters and 38 RSAF personnel from a training detachment based in Grand Prairie, Texas, assisted in relief operations from 1 September. They ferried about 700 evacuees and hauled tons of supplies in 39 sorties on 4 September. One more CH-47 Chinook helicopter was sent to aid in relief efforts.[13] [14]
In 2011, more than 4,300 Singaporeans were studying in the United States, the highest figure in 10 years. The number of Singaporean students studying in the United States grew by 7 percent since 2010. American universities with the most number of Singaporeans are among the most prestigious in the country which includes Harvard University, Cornell University, Stanford University, and University of California, Berkeley. To add to the rising number of college students study in the United States, many local students in Singapore have also opted to study in American high schools. US Ambassador to Singapore David I. Adelman said that the high number of Singaporeans studying in the United States reflects that Singapore–United States relations "have never been better".[15]
In 2012, Singapore and the United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enhance collaboration in education between the two countries. This is the second MOU between the United States and Singapore on education. The first MOU signed in 2002 primarily focused on the teaching and learning of the Singaporean method of mathematics and science. The 2012 MOU have enhanced the teaching of mathematics and science, teacher development and school leadership, and educational research and benchmarking studies. In addition, the conference also announced that the National Institute of Education (NIE) in Singapore and Columbia University's Teachers College are launching a joint Masters of Arts in Leadership and Educational Change. This joint Masters programme will take in up to 30 students from January 2013.[16]
The U.S. government sponsors visitors from Singapore each year under the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). The U.S. government provides Fulbright Awards to enable selected American professors to teach or conduct research at the National University of Singapore and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. It awards scholarships to outstanding Singaporean students for graduate studies at American universities and to American students to study in Singapore. The U.S. government also sponsors occasional cultural presentations in Singapore. The East-West Center and private American organizations, such as the Asia Foundation and Ford Foundation, also sponsor exchanges involving Singaporeans.