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China Security Push Should Match Economic Model, Says Singapore

  • Singapore views China’s rise in Asia with `sublime acceptance'
  • Match economic clout with security assurances, says Ng
A paramilitary police officer stands guard in front of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on Friday, March 4, 2016. China's defense spending will grow at the slowest rate in at least six years as President Xi Jinping moves to trim the size of the military and the economy expands at its weakest pace in a quarter century.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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As Xi Jinping heads to Washington this week to meet with some of the world’s biggest powers, one of Asia’s smallest countries is urging him to match China’s economic clout with better leadership on the security front.

Singapore views China’s rise in Asia with “sublime acceptance,” Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said on Thursday in an interview. “It’s a fait accompli,” he said. “You cannot contain China.”