Oral Reply by Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen to Parliamentary Question on the US Rebalancing Strategy

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Defence (a) what does Phase Three of the US Rebalancing Strategy entail for Singapore and the region in terms of security; (b) what is the Government's assessment of the associated security benefits, costs, and risks; and (c) how does the Government intend to maximise these gains while addressing the costs and mitigating the risks.
 
Dr Ng Eng Hen: Madam Speaker, as an independent and sovereign nation, Singapore pursues policies for its own interests for all matters of state, including defence, to attain the right and best conditions that ensure our survival and progress in this competitive world. We, Singaporeans are ultimately responsible for our own security but we will partner like-minded countries that pursue common objectives of peace and stability for our region. For this reason, Singapore joined the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) in 1971 which imposes an obligation on the five nations to consult in the event of an external attack on Malaysia and Singapore. In the past decade, we have also worked with other ASEAN countries to build a security architecture that is inclusive and based on the rule of law; where peaceful settlement of disputes, dialogue, cooperation, and non-provocation are the norm for countries within that framework. This led to the set-up of ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus in 2010, which includes, apart from the ASEAN member states, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand from Asia, as well as the US and Russia.
 
As a matter of policy, Singapore will continue to partner like-minded countries to pursue peace and stability for our region. We seek to be friends with all militaries and encourage them to use our port and air bases for transit. Indeed, military ships and submarines from many countries, both from ASEAN plus countries like US, China, India and Japan as well as from other continents like Europe, South America, Oceania and Africa, stop and use facilities at Changi Naval Base (CNB). US ships and planes are more frequent users since the 1990 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by our founding PM, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, and then-US Vice President Dan Quayle. That MOU facilitated the US' presence in this region and provided the security umbrella under which emerging economies in Asia thrived. This MOU was updated by the Strategic Framework Agreement signed by PM Lee and then-US President George W. Bush in 2005 and recently, we enhanced the Defence Cooperation Agreement in the US in 2015. Thank you.