VIENTIANE – Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has called for the East Asia Summit (EAS) led by the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) to be further strengthened, adding that the forum needs to look at how to address security issues.
“The EAS is more than a decade old now and has grown into a major component of the region’s strategic architecture,” he said during the EAS held in Laos’ National Convention Centre on Thursday (Sep 8) afternoon.
 
He noted there is now a dedicated EAS Unit in the Asean Secretariat. The ambassadors of EAS countries have also met several times in Jakarta and started negotiating some of the outcome documents for the forum.
 
The EAS membership comprises the 10 member states of Asean, as well as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, the United States and Russia.
 
Given the myriad political positions, especially among the major powers in the EAS, the forum has hitherto focused less on addressing difficult political issues of the day.
 
Mr Lee said on Thursday that the EAS’s role and capacity should be enlarged to deal with the security issues that affect the region, adding that he is pleased to support the adoption of an EAS declaration on strengthening responses to migrants in crisis and trafficking in persons.
 
The Prime Minister identified several strategic issues that EAS should work closely together, with terrorism high on the agenda.
 
“Attacks by the Islamic State (IS) are being conducted in the Asia Pacific as well as our (Asean’s) own backyard – with the bomb blasts in Jakarta (in January), Puchong in Putrajaya (in June), and the latest being Davao City (last week)” he said, adding that there was a plan to attack Singapore using a rocket from Batam which was foiled by the Indonesian authorities.
 
He said that South-east Asia has become a “fertile breeding ground and recruiting ground for violent extremism” and self‐radicalisation is also becoming more widespread. “These are single individuals, self-radicalised, acting alone, difficult to stop,” he added.
 
Mr Lee said that the Republic is committed to doing what it can within its means, having contributed in kind to the anti‐IS coalition.
 
He added that Singapore remains “deeply concerned by the series of deliberate and provocative actions by North Korea”, which has conducted a nuclear test and a series of rocket launches this year in defiance of calls by the international community to avoid dangerous actions.
 
“Any disruption to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula will have far‐reaching consequences for our region,” said the Prime Minister.
 
“Singapore takes our international obligations under the United National Security Council resolutions very seriously and will implement them faithfully,” he said, adding that it is timely for the EAS to adopt a statement on non-proliferation.
 
It is believed that Beijing, as Pyongyang’s diplomatic ally, may have blocked EAS consensus on the statement.
 
On the situation in the South China Sea, Mr Lee said:” I’m relieved that the situation has not escalated significantly in the last few months, when there were worrying signs of things getting worse”.
 
He added that although Asean and China has launched a series of measures to manage tensions this week, “it is still important to have a credible and legally‐binding code of conduct”.
 
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which more than US$5 trillion in shipborne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the sea, believed to be rich in energy deposits.
 
Beijing has conducted massive reclamation and construction in the disputed waterway, sparking fears of militarisation in the region.
 
An arbitration court in The Hague ruled on July 12 that China had no historic title over the busy waterway and had breached the Philippines’ sovereign rights there. The decision infuriated Beijing, which dismissed the court’s authority to rule on the matter.
 
Commenting on how the EAS can further promote practical cooperation, the Prime Minister said that he supports the adoption of a declaration on promoting infrastructure development in East Asia.
 
“It is timely our Ambassadors review the EAS priority areas and consider the including maritime cooperation as the seventh priority area,” said Mr Lee.
 
The six EAS priority areas are: energy, education, finance, global health issues, environment and disaster mitigation, and ASEAN Connectivity.
 
“All of us want a region with growth, peace and stability. EAS is the platform that allows us to cooperate and tackle our challenges together.” said Mr Lee.
 
“We must continue to preserve its open, inclusive and Asean-centric nature, and keep its current optimal composition.”