US, S'PORE SHARE COMMITMENT TO STABILITY IN ASIA-PACIFIC

The defence partnership between the United States and Singapore is a key part of regional security and stability. This was the key message from Ms Christine Wormuth, US Undersecretary of Defence for Policy in a public lecture held in Singapore on 2 Apr.

Ms Wormuth was speaking to an audience of local and foreign military officers and academics on the topic of The US-Singapore Defence Relationship: A Shared Commitment to Peace and Prosperity in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Elaborating, she highlighted Singapore's contributions to multinational counter-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden, and her recent commitment to the global fight against the militant Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

"Singapore has stepped up and been a very important member of the 60-nation counter-ISIS campaign," she said.

Singapore has committed liaison and planning officers, a KC-135R tanker aircraft for air-to-air refuelling, and an Imagery Analysis Team to the counter-ISIS coalition led by the US.

Ms Wormuth also noted Singapore's initiative in setting up a Regional Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Coordination Centre to help Asia-Pacific countries better respond to disasters.

She added that Singapore was instrumental in developing a multilateral framework for dialogue and cooperation, by being a founding member of the ASEAN - a platform which brings together South East Asian countries.

On US' contributions to the region, Ms Wormuth highlighted the US Navy's rotation of four Littoral Combat Ships operating out of Singapore.

The second ship, the USS Fort Worth, arrived late last year and played a part in the recent search for AirAsia flight QZ8501 which had crashed in the Java Sea in December 2014.

The US is also working with Vietnam and Indonesia to build their maritime defence and disaster relief capabilities.

Ms Wormuth said the US will continue to engage South East Asia countries, particularly through the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) Plus framework - a platform for dialogue and practical military-to-military cooperation.

"We really need multilateral institutions (like the ADMM-Plus) to confront the most important security challenges that we are facing," she said.

"From our perspective in DOD (Department of Defence), creating the ADMM-Plus, formed in 2010, really sort of took multilateral defence cooperation to a new level."

She also highlighted that the US is concerned about the territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas.

"Our goal is really to get all claimants to work collaboratively and diplomatically to try to resolve disputes by peaceful means," she said, adding that the US is working with China to create better communication channels to avoid miscalculations in these hotspots.

Both countries are also working on a set of rules of behaviour to govern the safety of aerial and maritime encounters.

Ms Wormuth emphasised that despite having to deal with crises in the Middle East (ISIS threat) and in Europe (Russia's illegal violation of Ukraine's territorial sovereignty), the US will continue with its rebalance to Asia.

"As a global world power, the United States does have to focus on those challenges," she explained. "But the fundamental reason for the rebalance to Asia is more about opportunities and seizing the future, and working with countries in the region to move forward in a positive way."

The lecture was given on the sidelines of Ms Wormuth's visit to Singapore to take part in the 8th US-Singapore Strategic Security Dialogue, held on 3 Apr. During her visit, she also called on Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen.