Quora Answer: Will Malaysia Fight China if China Forcefully Tries to Claim Singapore as Part of Its Territory?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Will Malaysia fight China if China forcefully tries to claim Singapore as part of its territory?”

Firstly, China has no historical claim over Singapore.  Singapore is a sovereign state, almost 4,000 km away.  It is nowhere even near China.

Secondly, if the assumption is that China could invade Singapore, then that is also impossible  Assuming, for the sake of argument, we discount Singapore’s military, China does not have the military lift capability to send significant amount of troops over.  Neither does China have the ability to project the significant air and naval power required at the moment.  If China could, they would have tried to take Taiwan militarily first, and Taiwan is a lot nearer, being 130 km at the narrowest, across the Taiwan Straits.

Singapore is the most militarised state in Southeast Asia.  It has the largest, and most modern air force and navy in the region.  It is also a member of several defence pacts, and is one of the refit and refurbishment ports for US carrier groups.  The entrance to the Singapore Straits is at Horsburgh Lighthouse, which is a death trap for any fleet.  A naval flotilla coming from the south, the Karimata Straits will be intercepted by the radar station in the southern islands, and cannot sneak in.  They will have the disadvantage in air cover, and will be stopped in those waters.

Finally, the Malaysian Armed Forces, after years under successive corrupt governments, has suffered in the arms procurement process.  They have no means whatsoever to project themselves in any naval or air engagement.  They are not a factor in any such equation.  It will take years to rebuild the Malaysian Armed Forces into a credible deterrent.