Third Annual Asia Security Conference Opens In Singapore

Producer: Melanie Yip
First broadcast: 4 June 04, Radio Singapore International

Singapore's Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong, is officiating at the opening of the third annual Asia Security Conference 2004, also known as Shangri-La Dialogue this evening.

The conference will be attended by prominent officials like United States Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

And defense ministers and officials from more than 20 countries including Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.

The forum was inaugurated by the London-based think tank, International Institute for Strategic Studies, or IISS in 2002 because it saw the need to create a military alliance for Asia Pacific nations.

To what extent has the Shangri-La Dialogue been significant in spearheading security cooperation in the Asia Pacific region?

Melanie Yip put the question to Dr K S Nathan (KSN), Senior Fellow at the Institute of South East Asian Studies in Singapore.

KSN: Well, I would say it is a very important forum because it brings into consultation, the role of the United States in managing the security of the Asia Pacific region, given the fact that the United States' military presence is a very important factor in the regional security arrangements. The Shangri-La Dialogue has raised the level of consciousness of the common threats that are germane to this region and the need for all the defense ministers to engage in more substantive cooperation, as to how best to address the issue of the war on global terror.

Is the Shangri-La Dialogue being held in Asia because the South East Asian region has been plagued by issues of terrorism, and violence?

KSN: Not necessarily. I think ASEAN would also like to take initiative of engaging in regional security cooperation, and initiatives in addressing the war on global terror because the war on global terror is not just a concern of the United States or other countries, it is equally the concern of ASEAN countries. After all, we have faced the problem of terrorism in the last two or three years in the post 9/11 period. Therefore, I think it is an initiative that ASEAN is also interested in engaging more substantively with the United States and see to what extent, there could be parallel concerns, initiatives, and strategies that can be taken to more effectively contain terrorist threats in the region.

United States Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld is attending the Shangri-La Dialogue. He is expected to try to enlist support for the global war on terror, and a US-led effort to safeguard the Straits of Malacca. What are the reasons for the US concern on the vulnerability of the waterway?

KSN: The Straits of Malacca straddles three very important ASEAN nations, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. It also carries with it, more than half of the world's oil, and also a quarter of the world's commerce pass through the Straits of Malacca. It is therefore a matter of major concern for the economic powers who provide the dynamo for development in the region. China, Japan and Korea also receive a lot of oil through the Straits of Malacca, and they are very important economic partners of the United States, together with ASEAN countries. The fact that we did have problems in the region through the activities of Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah (JI), and the potential that exists for interdicting shipping and shipping lines is a matter of common concern for these countries.

How are Asian countries expected to react to US efforts to assemble a coalition of nations to protect the Malacca Straits?

KSN: The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) would also be another important platform because it involves all the major actors in the world. Together with the ASEAN countries, issues of security are also discussed at ARF and measures by which they can cooperate more effectively are dealt with in the ARF. So that would be a neutral forum within which United States initiatives can be seen in context, so that the United States would not be seen as perhaps, pushing its way around the region, and preventing other states from taking equally important actions, in consultation with other powers who have similar interests in the region. It is a sensitive issue because it does involve the feelings of ASEAN countries, and the fact that they would like to be in command of providing security for the region.

Besides the issue of safeguarding the Straits of Malacca, what other issues will feature prominently in the discussions?

KSN: The Proliferation Security Initiative that was announced by (US) President (George W.) Bush in Poland, in May last year would provide an important framework by which we address issues of weapons of mass destruction. There is also a program to strengthen security in relation to maritime security initiatives. As shipping is an important element of commerce in our region, the fact that terrorists can interdict these vessels, or perhaps ship them, or states providing sanctuaries for the trans-shipment of weapons of mass destruction will be an issue of concern for all the defense ministers.