In an ST op-ed, Han Fook Kwang, senior fellow of RSIS, wrote that if it is indeed inevitable that an emerging power will clash with an incumbent, now is much better than later. It seems a cruel thing to say that it is good for the US and China to have this fight that is roiling the markets and getting so many worked up on both sides of the Pacific. But everyone has to take a long-term, realistic view of these matters.

…Han Fook Kwang is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.