Transcript of Joint Press Conference between US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Singapore Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen (Excerpts)

Secretary Hagel: Good morning. By now, you would all have seen a statement released earlier this morning on budget. I know the House is scheduled for a vote later this afternoon around 6 o' clock and I wanted to just briefly address that before I address Dr Ng and our conversation.

This agreement does not solve all of DoD's budget problems but it helps us address our readiness especially in 2014 with putting more money back into training, in particular, and procurement. It also gives us some new certainty and predictability and forward planning for our budgeting over the next two years which is particularly important.

With Dr Ng standing here, this is an important signal to our partners and our allies around the world that we are going to come together as a country, as a congress, to make some tough choices and decisions and commit resources where we have to commit them. It gives, I hope, some assurance to our allies and friends like Singapore that we are going to do this. In that process, reassures those around the world, that we will stay committed to our allies and our interests around the world. As many of you know, because some of you were on the trip with me this week, that was much of the message I wanted to bring to our partners, in particular, those in the Middle East and South Asia as well.

Let me get to Dr Ng and our conversation this morning. We just completed a good, positive, warm and productive meeting which I have appreciated over years. Our relationship with Singapore, I appreciate on a personal level, as well as our countries. We do so much together over the years. I think that it is a particularly important relationship as the US re-balances in the Asia Pacific.

Many of you know that yesterday, I had an opportunity to host Ambassadors from the ASEAN Countries for lunch and we talked about many things. In particular, I wanted to get a sense from them and from their Ministers of Defence, Dr Ng and my counterparts, what they wanted to talk about and what they wanted to be put on the agenda for the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Ministerial that I will be hosting next year in Hawaii. That was a very productive meeting and it flows right into our meeting today because Singapore is an important leader in ASEAN in the Asia Pacific region. It is even more important that we had this meeting back-to-back.

I also want to thank Singapore for its continued important contributions to our efforts in Afghanistan, which we talked a little bit about, and our counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. Singapore has been a very important partner and we all appreciate what you continue to do.

I thank Dr Ng for the logistical support that Singapore has provided the US military aircraft and ships operating in the Pacific. This as you know, enables our forces to maintain a strong forward presence in that part of the world. We had that opportunity earlier this year to spend some time together in Singapore and in Brunei and I had an opportunity, during those visits, especially to Singapore to visit our Littoral Combat Ship, USS Freedom. As you know, it has completed a successful inaugural deployment and we look forward to its deployment of the next one to Singapore next year, and a third in 2015. The deployment of these ships is part of a commitment to a deepening military engagement in Asia Pacific which we discussed as well.

We also talked about new ways to increase the bilateral collaboration between our militaries in such areas as cyber, which we have put a lot of attention to and focussed on, and also in particular, maritime security where we could have more joint ventures by expanding our more bilateral engagements by increasing exchanges and conducting more of these exercises but also more complex elements of these exercises with more nations. Singapore has led on a number of these with other ASEAN partners. In particular, one of the areas we discussed and both believe, is that finding solutions to the Asia Pacific is most pressing because it really focuses on the security issues and the challenges in taking the pressure and the tension off some of the big issues that we are going to manage through. It is going to require platforms of cooperation and ASEAN is such an institution and a platform to get us through and into more dialogue, cooperation and collaboration. We put a particular emphasis and priority on that relationship.

We discussed China's troubling announcement of the establishment of an East China Sea and the Defence Identification Zone. We talked about the implications this has created for the maritime and airspace navigation. I shared with Dr Ng our deep concern about the Chinese announcement and I have addressed that before. I think all the nations of South East Asia are also concerned. China's actions raise regional tensions and increases the risks of miscalculation, confrontation and accidents. Restraint is critically important on these issues, especially at this time. The US does not recognise the newly announced Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) which I have noted before and we urge China not to implement the ADIZ decision and refrain from taking similar actions elsewhere in the region. As we have said many times, and as our actions have clearly demonstrated, China's announcement of the ADIZ, will not change how we conduct US military operations in the region.

The US will continue to stand by our allies and partners in the Asia Pacific. The US remains committed to the re-balance of the Asia Pacific in every way and to our important partnership with Singapore. I look forward to continuing to work with Dr Ng to advance our friendship, our common interests and ensure a more secure and prosperous future for both of our nations in the Asia Pacific.

With that, let me ask Dr Ng for his comments and we will take a couple of questions. Dr Ng, thank you and welcome.

Dr Ng: Thank you Secretary Hagel. First let me thank Secretary Hagel for his very warm reception and add to some of the comments he has made.

We had frank and broad discussions about stability in Asia Pacific region. I welcome Secretary Hagel's reassurance and reaffirmation of America's commitment to the Asia Pacific. I reminded Secretary Hagel that Singapore has been explicit in our position that America's presence in the Asia Pacific in the last 50 years has been a critical force for stability and progress for many of the emerging economies. In 1990 we signed a Memorandum of Understanding which allowed US ships and planes to transit our naval base and air bases when US military lost its access to Clark and Subic.

In 2005, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and then-President Bush signed a Strategic Framework Agreement and it was arising from this agreement that we had the USS Freedom deployed recently. I welcome his reassurance because we believe that the US presence in our region is a force for stability.

We talked about how we can continue to use platforms that exist to improve collaboration, cooperation and dialogue. Platforms such as the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus and Shangri-La Dialogue that every Secretary of Defence has not failed to attend since its inception. I remind members that it was Secretary Hagel who had a birthing hand in Shangri-La Dialogue. We talked about deepening bilateral defence relationships.

I thank him very much for creating opportunities here. Yesterday, I was at the 20th Anniversary celebration in Luke Air base where our F-16s are based. Our F-15s are based in Idaho in Mountainhome and our Apaches and Chinooks are based here as well. We conducted an integrated live-firing exercise in the Barry M. Goldwater Range. We want to thank you for all the opportunities and we want to continue to look forward to a very forward-looking relationship with US together with our ASEAN partners, in forging another period of stability and growth for the Asia Pacific region.

Question: Dr Ng and Secretary Hagel, given the changing stance of china in the East China Sea and South China Sea I was wondering if you see the role of the US in those regions changing and how does the US-Singapore relationship fit into the broader strategy in preserving peace and intentions in the region?

Secretary Hagel: I will begin and Dr Ng I'm sure will have a comment. As I have said in my remarks and what we talked about today and yesterday with the ASEAN ambassadors. This country, the United States of America, is committed and will continue to stay committed to our allies, our partners and our friends in the Asia Pacific and these issues of the ADIZ and dispute in the South China Sea, East China Sea are realities that we are going to have to work through. I have also made very clear, the President has made clear, Secretary Kerry, that our commitment to our allies in this area remains strong and we will honour those commitments; we will honour them in every way. Our force protection, the commitment of our forces, that's not going to change, we've made that very clear. we have to work within the framework especially the institutions that are there to try resolve these issues but these issues have to be resolved carefully, diplomatically, peacefully and we run into dangers and this is why this unilateral decision by China to impose the ADIZ was done just exactly that way - unilaterally trying to influence the status quo without any consultation, without any collaboration or cooperation. That's what makes all this so dangerous when that happens so we're continued to stay committed, we are committed, we will be committed, as I have made very clear in my comments and in our meeting today.

Dr Ng: Well, I have said that the US presence, from SIngapore's point of view, is critical for stability in the Asia Pacific region. We've also said that the China-US relationship is the relationship that will impact all countries as well as the stability. We're very cheered by comments from President Obama and President Xi Jinping that the Pacific region is big enough to accommodate both a resident power and a rising power. There will be strategic competition but Secretary Hagel and I discussed at length how we need to use the platforms to reduce the risk of miscalculation, that we don't precipitate tensions and we talked about how we can take this forward using various platforms whether it is ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting-Plus or the Shangri La Dialogue so that we avoid conflicts and precipitating tensions. So i think we have our work cut out for us and we're very happy that Secretary Hagel invited the ASEAN ministers to Hawaii and we're looking forward to that meeting.

Secretary Hagel: I might just add that much of Vice-President Biden's agenda in that part of the world Japan, China, South Korea, was focused on this overall issue and during those visits made very clear the US' continued commitment to Asia Pacific.

Question: For Minister Ng, could you tell us about Singapore's interest in the F-35B. I know some of you were watching that demonstrations this week in Arizona.

Dr Ng: I've said in Parliament during the last budget that Singapore is seriously looking at the F-35s to replace our F-5s. We're in no particular hurry because our F-16s are still very operational, they are due for upgrades but it is a serious consideration and during my visit here to Luke Air Base, the US marines were kind enough to have a demonstration of the F-35Bs and it's quite an engineering marvel. We recognise that there are aspects to consider and we will make our deliberate decision because as I said we are in no particular hurry but we are seriously considering.