DPM's Replies to Questions Posed During the Q & A Segment of the Panel Discussion at the Putrajaya Forum Opening Dinner

Q: One of the issues is how the emerging re-adjustment of power balances in the region will play out. The concern in many minds is how China will conduct itself, whether it will be benign or not, and how we should manage the situation. I would be very interested in how the speakers see the China phenomenon. Is it a benign development? How best can ASEAN respond and manage this?

DPM Teo: It depends on how you look at the situation. You look at China's development as if it is an independent variable, as if its development is not dependent on others in the region. But how each country, big or small, develops is dependent on various variables. It depends on what happens in its region, how other countries interact with the country, the shared interests between all these countries, and so on. So what is important is to see how we can create a bigger space for all, and to understand that there are shared interests. It is quite pointless to have conflicts, as conflicts do us no good. We should be looking for greater confluences of interests. We may have specific differences over trade, for instance, but if we have no trade, we would all be worse off. So we need to find areas where there are confluences of interests. With more interactions, working together more, we will find these common areas. And with more common interests, it will cost us more to have conflict. So we will be more careful about entering into conflict or confrontation.

Q: In your interactions with the major powers, specifically the US and China, should the US withdraw, will China be able to replace the US as the leader?

DPM Teo: As this is a hypothetical question, we need to consider the hypothesis. I think your hypothesis is false, which is that the US will withdraw from the region. The US has stated many times that it is part of the region - a "resident power" of the region - and that it is here to stay. This is welcomed by many of us - Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and so on. So on the one hand, the US is saying that it is definitely staying, and on the other hand, many countries welcome the US doing so. So we should re-examine the assumptions and hypothesis upon which the question is based.

More Resources

DPM Teo Attends Defence and Security Forum in Malaysia

Opening Remarks by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean at the Putrajaya Forum Opening Dinner