Hormuz is just a ‘dry run’ if China and U.S. go to war in the Pacific, Singapore foreign minister warns
Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, USA, on Saturday, September 27, 2025. The United Nations General Assembly, which opens Tuesday, brings more than 150 world leaders and their friends to Midtown. It’s a gathering that’s been likened to hosting the Super Bowl every day for a week throughout the neighborhood. Photographer: David Dee Delgado/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Wednesday that if a war breaks out between China and the United States in the Pacific, “What you see in the Strait of Hormuz will be a test run.”
Balakrishnan made statements on CNBC LIVE COMBINATION The event in Singapore answered the question of whether the city-state faces any pressure from Washington and Beijing to choose between the two.
Singapore has relations with both countries and is uniquely positioned to benefit from developments in the US and China, Balakrishnan told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick.
Singapore “will refuse to choose” one over the other, the official added.
“The way we conduct our business is to consider what Singapore’s long-term national interests are, and if I have to say no to Washington, Beijing or anyone else, we don’t hesitate.”
“We are acting in our long-term national interests. We will be useful, but we will not be used,” he added.
‘Impact points are important’
Separately, Balakrishnan said the conflict in the Middle East showed that “chokepoints matter”, noting that Singapore also sits on one of the world’s critical trade arteries in the form of the Strait of Malacca.
At its narrowest point, the Strait of Malacca is two nautical miles and the Strait of Hormuz is 21 nautical miles.
The minister was also asked whether Iran’s actions to collect tolls from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz would cause other countries to consider collecting tolls from transit points such as the Strait of Malacca.
Balakrishnan said that it would be a risk if this scenario came to life, but the states along the Malacca Strait (Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia) have a strategic interest in keeping this strait open and not collecting tolls.
“In terms of both America and China, we have told both of them that we operate on the basis of UNCLOS,” he said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“Everyone’s right to transit is guaranteed. We will not participate in attempts to close our neighborhood, ban it, or impose tolls.”
