The past three months have been packed ones for Singapore’s diplomats.

From Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s visit to Washington in August to his address to Australia’s Parliament in Canberra last week, Singapore has been stepping up ties with its key partners.

In between those two trips, PM Lee was invited to the Group of 20 leaders’ summit in Hangzhou, China, and visited Vientiane in Laos, as well as Tokyo and New Delhi.

These visits underscore the importance of diplomacy to Singapore’s survival and sovereignty as a small state that relies on open trade and respect for the rule of law globally.

But Singapore’s independent, principled, foreign policy positions have also come under scrutiny as the global balance of power shifts.

… “China expects special treatment of Chinese sensitivities and interests. There are no two ways about this,” says S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies executive deputy chairman Ong Keng Yong, a veteran diplomat.