Singapore, Apr 16 (PTI) Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Wednesday said the US and China claim they do not wish to force countries to choose sides but seek to draw other countries into their respective orbits, local media reported.

“America and China are now locked in a fierce contest for global supremacy. Neither country wants an open conflict, but there is a deep mistrust and suspicion on both sides,” Wong said, in an apparent reference to the tariff war between the two countries.

“Both powers claim they do not wish to force countries to choose sides, but, in reality, each seeks to draw the other closer into their respective orbits. This rivalry is already reshaping the world and will continue to define the geo-political landscape for years to come,” Wong said.

“We are in the midst of a messy transition globally. To what? Nobody can tell,” Wong told an audience of about 900 at the annual S. Rajaratnam Lecture.

Wong, in a speech at the Singapore University of Technology and Design, said Singapore thrived for the past 60 years in a post-World War II rules-based international order — one that was shaped and written by American leadership, The Straits Times reported.

“Today, unfortunately, this international order has failed. The conditions it sustained no longer hold. Within America, the support for global engagement has declined, and Americans feel left behind by globalisation,” he said.

“There is a growing sense that other countries are benefitting disproportionately from America’s security umbrella and access to its markets while contributing little in return,” said Wong, who is also the finance minister of Singapore.

“So there is now a strong and growing impulse within America to turn inward to focus on its domestic priority and scale back costly overseas commitments.” “This sentiment reflects deeper structural changes in the US society that America can no longer afford to lead the world in resolving every problem and now needs to cut back on what it does abroad. This is not a temporary policy change. This reflects the new normal in the US for some time to come,” Wong said.

“China has emerged as a near-peer competitor of the US. America is stepping back from its traditional role as the guarantor of order as the world’s policeman, but neither China nor any other country is willing or able to fill the vacuum. So nations are turning inward, prioritising their narrow interests,” he said, adding there was growing turbulence in the international economic system alongside the rising geopolitical unease.

“Geopolitical competition has returned with a vengeance, and the major powers no longer feel economically secure,” he said.

Wong said that economic instruments such as tariffs, export controls and sanctions were being used not for market purposes but as instruments of statecraft to advance national interests.

“These trends are not new, but they have reached a new intensity with the latest US tariff moves,” he said.

The US on April 2 announced wide-ranging tariffs on a host of nations, with Asian countries particularly hit hard.

US President Donald Trump later paused most of the “reciprocal” tariffs but announced further levies up to 145 per cent on China. Beijing responded with tariffs up to 125 per cent on US products.

“These changes have already created great uncertainty for businesses everywhere,” Wong said.

“What we are witnessing is the remaking of the global economy – not as one integrated system, but as bifurcated ecosystems centred around America and China,” he said.

In this environment, countries everywhere are re-examining strategic assumptions and recalibrating their policies, said Wong. PTI GS PY PY PY PY PY