International Analysis

From Singapore to the Philippines: China's Neighbors Are Arming Up — Is Beijing Worried?

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Southeast Asia’s security network is becoming denser, with military exercises, logistics agreements and maritime partnerships increasingly overlapping across the region. In Singapore, Exercise Bersama Lima brings together Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK under the Five Power Defence Arrangements, while Japan and the Philippines have tested their new logistics-sharing pact through joint disaster-relief drills. At the same time, tensions in the South China Sea continue to expose the limits of cooperation, as Manila and Beijing clash over access and legal authority at Second Thomas Shoal and debate the meaning of the 2016 arbitration ruling. Can these overlapping partnerships translate into real security when a crisis hits? In this episode, we examine Singapore’s balancing strategy, the expanding Japan–Philippines defense relationship, the battle over maritime law and what these networks could mean for Taiwan and the wider Indo-Pacific. *Recorded on October 12, 2026 at 4:30pm Taiwan Standard Time Host: Rath Wang Producer: Miguel Yang Videographer: Jun Ng Our guests: Lin Juo-yu - Taiwan South and Southeast Asia Association President Rommel Ong - Retired Rear Admiral and Former Philippine Navy Vice Commander