Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen underscored the need for the region to work collectively to avoid perils and reap promises in the Asia-Pacific security landscape, at a panel discussion at the 51st Munich Security Conference (MSC).
Held from 6 to 8 Feb this year, the MSC is an annual high-level security conference attended by heads of government, defence and foreign ministers, parliamentarians, military leaders and security experts from around the world.
Together with Chinese Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Liu Zhenmin, Japanese Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Minoru Kiuchi, Korean National Assembly's National Defence Committee Chairman Hwang Jin Ha, and Centre for a New American Security Chief Executive Officer and former United States Under-Secretary of Defence for Policy Michèle Flournoy, Dr Ng took part in the panel discussion themed Pacific Geopolitics: Pow(d)er Keg? on 6 Feb.
Dr Ng outlined three reasons to worry about the security situation in the Asia-Pacific, noting firstly the rise in Asia's defence spending. "Defence spending has surpassed that of NATO Europe in absolute terms - US$400 billion (S$541 billion). Asia has surpassed Europe and the rate of increase has been impressive."
Second, he cautioned that amid this military modernisation and increased defence spending was the absence of well-developed security architecture. Dr Ng's last point concerned Asia lacking a strong collective will to protect the global commons. Unlike Europe, where formal structures and alliances were formed in the wake of two World Wars, he recognised that Asian countries remain disparate in its languages, cultures, religions and historical perspectives.
Against this backdrop of security concerns, Dr Ng highlighted that there were still reasons to be optimistic about the future of the region. Citing Asia's fundamental pragmatism as the foremost reason, he acknowledged that Asian leaders are "fully aware that they have the most to lose if there is instability" as a result of rising prosperity. Dr Ng also said that the multiple stakeholders in the region and the rise of the Asian middle class - which is unlikely to support hegemony - behove stakeholders in the region to work together to tackle common security challenges that confront us all.
While in Munich, Dr Ng also addressed the 7th Munich Young Leaders Round Table on the topic of Security Challenges for a New Generation on 8 Feb. The Round Table brings together young leaders from governments, think-tanks and the private sector from the US, Europe, the Middle East as well as selected Asia-Pacific countries to discuss issues related to foreign and security policy.
Highlighting how the security landscape has evolved - notably an altered Europe, rising nationalism and Political Islam, Dr Ng offered three suggestions to respond to threats to peace and stability: The search for common principles, the need for confidence-building measures that can enhance practical cooperation and mutual understanding between militaries, and enhanced collective efforts to build real capacity.
Dr Ng concluded, "I think (as) it is with every generation, potentially divisive forces exist that can threaten our collective peace and security. These challenges call for enlightened leadership, collective political action in the spirit of multilateral and international modes of cooperation so that we can safeguard global stability and progress."
On the sidelines of the conference, Dr Ng conducted bilateral meetings with world leaders, including French Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, German Minister of Defence Dr Ursula von der Leyen, Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Italian Minister of Defence Roberta Pinotti and British Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon.
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