As the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz drags on, guardians of another critical waterway are worried about the precedent it sets for any future clash between the United States and China.

The Strait of Malacca — a waterway roughly five times longer and 10 times narrower than Hormuz at its tightest point — carries more than a quarter of global trade, including most of the oil that flows from the Persian Gulf to key Asian markets.

“If they go to war in the Pacific, what you are witnessing now in the Strait of Hormuz is just a dry run,” Singaporean Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said.