Speech by Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen at the People's Liberation Army National Defense University: Building Cooperation in a Changing Geopolitical Landscape

尊敬的王副校长,女士们，先生们：首先，让我在此感谢中国政府以及中国人民解放军给予我和我的团队的至高荣誉与热情款待。新加坡是个小国。中国地大物博，是个具有影响力的大国，并且能够与许多友好国家扩展双边关系。尽管如此，新中两国防务领导与人员的良好交流，包括我与梁光烈部长的频繁互动，反映了新中两国日益增进的友好双边关系。我们恳切希望新中两国的双边关系能持续发展。

中国人民解放军国防大学是中国最高的军事教育学府。我为有幸在这里与大家会面以及进行讨论感到高兴。有碍于我的汉语表达能力，我将以英语完成我的演讲，还希望各位能够包涵。

[English Translation: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. First, let me thank the Government of China and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) for the great honour and hospitality accorded to me and my delegation for this visit. Singapore is but a small country and China as a large and influential country has many friendly nations to build relations with. Despite this, the many exchanges between defence leaders and officials including that of Minister Liang Guanglie reflect the growing ties between China and Singapore. We hope that these relations will continue to strengthen. It is also my pleasure and honour to speak today at the PLA National Defense University (NDU), PLA's top learning institution. For my speech, please excuse me as I will use English, as my Mandarin is not fluent enough.]

I would like to thank General Wang for inviting me and my delegation to visit NDU. I am very happy to be here to share some thoughts as well as to have a meaningful dialogue with military commanders, whom I know are attending NDU. 

As military commanders, all of you must be familiar with Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon Bonaparte is reported to have said while pointing to China on a world map: "There is a sleeping giant. Let him sleep! If he awakes, he will shake the world". Today, we are witnessing what Napoleon predicted. China with its long history of achievements, enormous geographic size, and large population with legendary work ethic has always caused others to wonder what it might be if it rises and marches on. The world need no longer wonder. Not only has the sleeping giant awakened, China is now considered a global force in this century. China's entry into the global economy in the 1980s has transformed itself with rapid growth and has lifted more than 400 million people above the poverty line. By some projections, China is also poised to become the world's largest economy in another two decades. China's transformation and economic growth have been beneficial not only to China but to the region and the world as well. Chinese leaders have frequently expressed China's commitment to peaceful development and building good relations with its neighbours. Singapore welcomes and supports China's continued peaceful development as this would contribute to the maintenance of peace and stability. 

More than ever in its entire history, China has become inextricably linked with the rest of the world. The European Union and the US have become China's largest trading partners. Within the Asia-Pacific, China is already the largest trading partner of ASEAN, Australia, Japan and South Korea, China is an integral part of this globalised world, with its fate intertwined with others. Its actions will impact the rest of the world and vice versa.

But with great power also comes responsibility. China's growth, as with other emerging economies like Singapore, was made possible by stable conditions and clear rules that had governed international financial, trade and security arrangements. These were stable conditions and clear rules for the last half a century. As a growing power, China must continue to play a constructive role in maintaining the stability of these global systems.

China's relationships with other countries are a key facet of this strategic engagement to maintain stability and the momentum of globalisation. Indeed, the China-US relationship is the most important relationship that will affect the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. In this, both sides have openly committed to building a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and benefit. From the defence perspective, Minister Liang Guanglie had said recently during his visit to the US that "[the] China-US bilateral relationship is on a new starting line in history to build a new kind of military relationship based on equality, cooperation and mutual benefit". This was echoed by US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta who expressed commitment to "achieving and maintaining a healthy, stable, reliable and continuous [military-to-military] relationship with China". That said, elements of competition will be present, and much work remains in moving the relationship forward. It is therefore important that we create opportunities to build common understanding and cooperation. This is in the interests of all countries with a stake in the continued prosperity of our region.

A constructive China-ASEAN relationship is also essential for regional growth and stability. ASEAN has grown significantly over the past three decades, with its real GDP per capita nearly tripling. In about 20 years, ASEAN's population will grow to about 740 million with a combined GDP of about US$3.1 trillion. Leaders from both China and the US have acknowledged that ASEAN is a key stakeholder in the region.

I have talked about relationships between countries, whether it is China-US or China-ASEAN. Stable and constructive relationships between stakeholder nations can be best cultivated within a security framework. Within the last decade, ASEAN and other partner states have expended considerable efforts to build such a robust regional security architecture that is open and inclusive, and one that strives to work for the common good while accommodating the interests and aspirations of all stakeholders - big and small states. Within this security architecture, we have formal groupings such as the ADMM-Plus, the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Regional Forum. At the same time, informal platforms like the Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) have provided valuable opportunities for key players in the region to explore new ways to enhance regional security. Minister Liang Guanglie in SLD last year used it as an international platform to expound China's views on the security situation in the region and China's efforts to promote defence and security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, as well as conducted bilateral exchanges with many other countries. These are valuable opportunities for us to enhance bilateral defence relationships with each other. 

However, we must go beyond just engaging in dialogue, important as that is. In Phnom Penh recently, the Defence Ministers who attended the 6th ADMM agreed unanimously to conduct the first ever combined 18-nation ADMM-Plus Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief/Military Medicine exercise - both table top and full troop - in Brunei next year. This will involve the 10 ASEAN countries and the eight "Plus" partners - Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the US. Our support for this new, bold initiative reflects our commitment to build trust and confidence amongst the militaries of the ADMM-Plus members by strengthening practical cooperation. 

On bilateral relations, Singapore and China have had a steady exchange of high-level visits, strengthening economic links and growing people-to-people exchanges. I am pleased to have met Minister Liang Guanglie on three separate occasions in 2011, and so far, twice this year. Our annual Defence Policy Dialogue also allows important exchange of views on issues of common interest and discussions on future areas for cooperation. At the military-to-military level, I am heartened to hear from my officers that friendships had been forged through our regular interactions, even in faraway places. When Singapore took over command of the Combined Task Force 151 in the Gulf of Aden last year, the officers of the Republic of Singapore Navy and the PLA Navy Task Force CTF 526 had the opportunity to interact and share their experiences. Looking ahead, we welcome more of such exchanges to strengthen our friendship and defence relations with China. 

To conclude, this century will present challenges that we must confront collectively to ensure stable global conditions that promote continued growth and prosperity of all nations. In this, China by virtue of its economic heft and influence plays a crucial leadership role. Through China's actions and initiatives, it can add to global stability and win trust and respect from other nations in the process.  

Finally, I would like to reiterate that China is an important friend of Singapore. Our strong ties and friendship are based on deep mutual respect and common interest, and underpinned by our shared strategic perspectives and commitment to regional peace and stability. I am confident that Singapore and China will continue to work together for mutual benefit, and further strengthen our relationship in the years ahead.

More Resources

• Dr Ng Delivers Speech at People's Liberation Army National Defense University

• China's ties with Asia-Pacific countries key to stability: Dr Ng