MILITARY TRANSPARENCY

MILITARY TRANSPARENCY: * * *

2.

Ms Ellen Lee asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence in respect of his statement at the 2009 Shangri-La Dialogue on military transparency, to what extent is the Ministry prepared to articulate our security concerns and strategic intent to our neighbours vis-à-vis our ASEAN partners in view of the fact that it is a very intricate and sensitive affair.

Mr Teo Chee Hean: Military transparency is not an end in itself, but serves a larger objective of building trust and cooperation for mutual benefit in the region. Within ASEAN, and in the larger Asia Pacific region, there are three levels of military transparency that the region can work together on to further enhance regional peace and stability.

At the first level, military transparency means disclosing information about one’s armaments and military programmes. At the second level, states must go beyond "bean-counting" to articulate their security concerns and strategic intent in a way that can reassure others. This can be done through the publication of White Papers, government statements or interviews, and dialogues between states. At the third level, military

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transparency involves cooperative action that contributes more directly to regional security. This encompasses practical cooperation, joint exercises and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

ASEAN has been working to advance these three levels of military transparency within the region. At the first level of disclosing one’s armaments and military programmes, efforts include the ASEAN Regional Forum’s (ARF) support for the UN Register on Conventional Arms since 1994, and the publication of the ARF Annual Security Outlook reports. At the second level, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea are good examples of how ASEAN has sought to express our peaceful and cooperative intent. Security dialogues like the ARF and the Shangri-La Dialogue also contribute to this second level of military transparency. Finally, at the third level, ASEAN countries have achieved a healthy level of security cooperation at the bilateral and multilateral levels. Operational cooperative mechanisms, such as the Malacca Strait Patrols (MSP), have also had a positive impact on regional security and enhanced trust between the participating states.

Singapore regularly and publicly articulates our defence policy positions on a variety of issues at various forums. In addition, we share our strategic perspective with other countries in ASEAN through our contribution to the ARF Annual Security Outlook and voluntary briefings at the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meetings (ADMM).

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