Singapore-China Relations: 50 Years - A Book Retelling Series

So I picked up this book called Singapore-China Relations: 50 Years, edited by Zheng Yongnian and Lye Liang Fook. It’s part of a whole series about Singapore’s first 50 years as a nation. And honestly, the story of how Singapore and China built their relationship is way more interesting than you’d expect.

Why This Book?

Here’s the thing. Singapore is tiny. China is massive. They don’t share a border. They have completely different political systems. But somehow these two countries built one of the most practical and productive relationships in Asia.

This book covers everything from the early days when Singapore didn’t even have formal diplomatic ties with China, all the way through massive joint projects like the Suzhou Industrial Park and the Tianjin Eco-city. It’s written by academics from the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore, so the research is solid.

What to Expect from This Series

I’m going to walk through this book chapter by chapter and break it down in plain language. No academic jargon, no political science textbook vibes. Just the interesting stuff about how two very different countries figured out how to work together.

Here’s the roadmap:

1. The Introduction - Setting the Stage - How the editors frame 50 years of bilateral ties
2. Chapter 1 - Looking Back and Looking Forward - The full timeline from pre-independence to modern cooperation
3. Chapter 2 - Lee Kuan Yew’s Special Relationship with China - How one leader shaped everything
4. Chapter 3 - Bilateral Economic Relations - Trade, investment, and money flows
5. Chapter 4 - Tourism Exchange - How tourism became a bridge between nations
6. Chapter 5 - Suzhou Industrial Park - Singapore’s biggest overseas project
7. Chapter 6 - Tianjin Eco-city - Building a green city from scratch
8. Chapter 7 - Sharing Development Experience - How Singapore exported its know-how
9. Chapter 8 - Educational Exchanges - Students, universities, and knowledge sharing
10. Chapter 9 - The Chinese Community in Singapore - Culture, identity, and Chinatown
11. Chapter 10 - Singapore’s Media Image in China - How Chinese media sees Singapore
12. Chapter 11 - Chinese Studies in Singapore - Academic China-watching from Singapore
13. Series Conclusion - Final thoughts and takeaways

About the Book

• Title: Singapore-China Relations: 50 Years
• Editors: Zheng Yongnian and Lye Liang Fook
• Publisher: World Scientific Publishing (2016)
• Series: World Scientific Series on Singapore’s 50 Years of Nation-Building
• ISBN: 978-9814713559

The book brings together contributions from researchers at the East Asian Institute, NUS, plus practitioners like Singbridge who actually built some of these joint projects. It’s academic but full of real stories and data.

Who Should Follow This Series

If you’re interested in how small countries deal with big neighbors, how pragmatic diplomacy actually works, or just want to understand Singapore-China relations better, this series is for you. And if you’re into Asian geopolitics but find most books too dry, I’m going to try to keep this readable and interesting.

Let’s get started. First up: the book’s introduction.