Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan urged the US to allow China to have a greater say in shaping global rules to avoid a prolonged clash that could force smaller countries to choose between the world's biggest economies.

File photo: AP

Singapore won't view China as a rival that must be contained and "constructive competition" between the superpowers is needed, Balakrishnan said on Wednesday at an event hosted by the Center for International and Strategic Studies, a think tank in Washington.

"Singapore wants both a sustained US presence, which we believe is positive, and we also want China to be able to assume its rightful place as it develops and becomes a superpower in its own right," he said.

Balakrishnan pointed out that it's "an entirely legitimate expectation on the part of China" to have the right to revise global rules since it did not have a say when they were first written decades ago.

Balakrishnan added that trade-reliant countries, like Singapore, will be affected due to the failure to strike a deal and protracted talks have already created "great uncertainty and volatility for the markets".

"For us in the middle, especially for small countries, we do not wish to be forced into making invidious choices," Balakrishnan said. "So, we hope that both sides will work out a strategic response and take into account China's increasing influence and weight in the international arena, and that both sides will find a way to accommodate each others’ legitimate interests."

(Compiled by Qiao Wai)