US Senate accepts resolution on strong ties with Singapore

Producer: Yvonne Gomez
First broadcast: 5 May 04, Radio Singapore International

The United States Senate has officially recognized Singapore's strong relations with the US today. Singapore's Prime Minister is on a visit to Washington, and today, he met key members of the Bush administration there.

This comes as the US Senate accepted a resolution acknowledging strong ties and cooperation between the two countries. Richard Lugar is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

RL: This is a very special visit, and I would point out that we passed a number of resolutions. But that was the only one, in a bipartisan way, where both Democrats and Republicans were allowed to come forward, and it s a tribute to the Prime Minister, and to the friendship of our two countries.

Apart from commending Singapore's cooperation with the US in the fight against terror, Mr Lugar elaborated on the message behind the resolution,.

RL: It simply means that Singapore is a trusted and valued friend, and an especially good counselor, at a time of need and crisis, and in times of strength and happiness, in both countries.

But what good are resolutions besides just being words on paper? And what is the significance of the involvement of the US Senate?

Questions Yvonne Gomez posed to Mr John Medeiros, Chargé d Affaires at the United States Embassy in Singapore.

JM: The first thing to understand is that in the US Congressional system, the Senate has particular responsibilities in the area of foreign affairs. It is the Senate that ratifies treaties for the United States and confirms ambassadors. And so, within our legislative system, it s the Senate that frequently takes initiatives of this kind. What does the resolution itself means? It doesn t have, how shall I say, concrete effect, in the sense it doesn t provide money for something, or it doesn t forbid or allow something. But it expresses the sentiment of the entire membership of the Senate, on the policy matter that is discussed in the resolution, in this case, US-Singapore relations, and its friendship over the last 4 years, since 2001.

You ve mentioned friendship, and the Americans have said, time and time again, that Singapore is a true and trusted friend. What would be some strategic reasons for the Americans to reiterate this from time to time?

JM: Let me go back to 2001, to the American decision to send troops to Afghanistan, to eradicate the terrorist bases of support there. At that time, Singapore was very clear in its political support for the war on terrorism. Singapore also stepped up to the plate, as we say, and made its airport and port facilities available for use by transiting US military units on their way, to and from Afghanistan. After the Afghanistan war was basically concluded, it was discovered that Singapore had a cell of terrorists itself in the midst of Singapore, which was targeting not only Singaporeans, but also Americans who were resident in Singapore. The firm action that Singapore took to end that terrorist threat was much appreciated by the United States. And finally, Singapore s effort and participation in assisting with the reconstruction of Iraq, and the training of Iraqi security forces to replace the coalition forces on the ground there. It s been a progression of developments over the last three years, I believe, that stimulated this resolution of support for Singapore.

Now that the scandal of the prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq has broken, I asked Dr Alan Chong from the National University of Singapore how Singapore s support in the reconstruction of Iraq will be affected?

AC: Of course there will be questions asked, but again, the prisoner abuse scandal is only one picture of the reconstruction of Iraq. It happened largely in relation to the so-called combatants. We re not sure, and the international lawyers will have a field day with this, whether they are actually prisoners-of-war or not. So the insurgents in Iraq are in this grey area. And I don t think Singapore has anything in particular riding on it, apart from a general backlash against Washington about its purposes in Iraq. The Singapore contingent, if you realize, has got a very carefully described mandate in Iraq humanitarian purposes.

Dr Chong also gave his view on the economic gains of US-Singapore cooperation.

AC: There is, of course, tangible gain on the economic front. This is clear, because the US business circles, in particular those who have trading links with Singapore, would like to use Singapore as a stepping-stone to ASEAN. And the fact that the US-Singapore FTA is often cited as a standard against which to measure any other FTAs the US might have under negotiation, suggests that there is a lot riding on the success of this FTA, even for the US side. On the other hand, it could also have a kind of deterrent value. Of course this is subjective, depending on whose perspective you look at it from, in relation to potential terrorist acts that are in the planning. It also perhaps has a domestic value for Singapore, in the sense that it s trying to signal threats to both terrorists that may be planning something in Singapore, as well as the relevant political circles in Washington, that Singapore is not going to cut and run the way the Spanish did in the wake of the Madrid bombing incident.