Transcript of Minister Vivian Balakrishnan's Press Conference during the 51st ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting and Related Meetings on 2 August 2018

Minister: Thank you, members of the media. Thank you for your patience and for joining us today. I am very glad to say that we have reached the conclusion of the AMM, this is the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. We had a good session, and I think one index of that is the fact that we have been able to issue the Joint Communiqué well ahead of time. That does not mean negotiations were easy because you have ten countries with very diverse, different perspectives. Getting everyone to agree on the text is never a trivial exercise, and never something that can be taken for granted. Our senior officials have worked very hard, and have had many nights burnt, but we have arrived at a statement which we believe accurately reflects the consensus position of all ten ASEAN countries. You may have heard our interventions today, the speeches given by my Prime Minister and myself - that we recognise that ASEAN is at an inflexion point, that this is a time in which we are facing challenges because the world as we know it for the past seventy years has changed. We are transiting to a multi-polar world.

We are also in a world in which free trade and economic integration, something which we almost took for granted, is now on the back foot. The third reason is that the digital revolution – the technological revolution – is completely transforming the way we live, work and play; the lives and livelihoods and jobs of our citizens. In the midst of these three tectonic changes, ASEAN has to remain relevant. ASEAN has to improve the lives, the living standards, and the livelihoods of our citizens. So if you read the Joint Communiqué, it covers a variety of policy and projects which reflect our responses to these challenges. You will see it covers issues dealing with terrorism, countering violent extremism, non-traditional security threats, environmental challenges including transboundary haze, tapping opportunities afforded by new technologies and also a very heavy dose of innovation and creating collaborative platforms in which all of us can innovate together. You will also see that we have reaffirmed our belief in the role of free trade, and in the role of multilateral institutions as a formula which has brought peace and prosperity for seven decades, especially in Southeast Asia.

The other point is we have just concluded the ASEAN-China Post-Ministerial Conference. On that front, we are very glad to report that we have arrived at a Single Draft COC Negotiating Text. Now just to clarify, this doesn’t mean that negotiations are over, but we’ve been able to put everything down onto a single draft and this draft will form the basis for subsequent negotiations.

Now clearly, it doesn’t mean that all the territorial disputes are resolved. In fact, the COC was never meant to resolve territorial disputes. The COC is meant to generate a code of conduct that would ensure that peace, stability, and confidence gets built up, so that we can continue to make collective progress between ASEAN and China, whilst we take time to resolve the territorial disputes. So that’s a major achievement on this front, and the other point is that we have also finalized a text for the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership 2030, which will chart the future long-term directions for relations between ASEAN and China. Incidentally, this also marks the end of the three-year period in which Singapore has been the coordinator for ASEAN-China relations, so I am very happy that we have been able to conclude this three-year period on a very positive note. I think I will stop here, I will take maybe one or two questions. I hope you will appreciate that I am under some time pressure, and the day and the night has not ended yet. Lay Cheng, I will let you assign.

Moderator: Okay can I see some indication of interest, and before you do so, please raise your hands and state your name and organization. I see Afifah? Please, Afifah.

Minister: So it pays to know Lay Cheng.

Channel News Asia (Nur Afifah Binte Ariffin): Hi Minister, Afifah from Channel NewsAsia. ASEAN and China have arrived at a single negotiating text, and you said earlier that there were some of the key modalities that you have agreed on. Can you elaborate what these are, and also, how far are we from the actual adoption of the COC in the South China Sea, and will this be legally binding?

Minister: Well, let me put this in context. We’ve been able to arrive at a single document which forms the basis for negotiations. Unfortunately, I can’t reveal that document yet because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. That’s the first thing. The second is this that it would be premature for me to set a deadline for when those negotiations would be complete. A lot of this depends on the establishment of mutual confidence, good faith, and good will on the part of all parties, and this clearly is a dynamic, evolving situation. So I would say that right now, if you ask me, I think everyone is glad that we’ve reached this stage, everyone also hopes that we’ll be able to accelerate the process, but we’re not yet in a position to put a specific deadline. And in the nature of these negotiations, sometimes it’s better to maintain sufficient flexibility so that nobody feels locked in, or that their interest will be overridden in a roughshod manner.

Minister: Maybe one more?

Moderator: One more question. Yun Zhou?

Lianhe Zaobao (Nam Yunzhou): Hi Minister, Yunzhou from Zaobao. Would just like to check if you can confirm that ASEAN Ministers have agreed with Russia to arrive at this cyber security agreement. Could you elaborate on why there was a need for this, and what form will the cooperation take, and what does cooperating with Russia on this front actually bring to the table for ASEAN?

Minister: Well, thank you for that question. Like you, I saw an interesting headline even before the meeting with Russia took place. So, I’m tempted to use the word “Fake news”, but since I didn’t actually read the entire article, I’m not going to jump to that conclusion. Let me put things in context, again I refer you to my Prime Minister’s speech today. There is a digital revolution going on, digital revolution is transforming the way we live, work, and play, transforming jobs, transforming livelihoods. Even as it expands opportunities, and even as it disrupts our economy and our society, we have to be mindful of cyber security.

And cyber security is the flip side of that coin. Without addressing security, we cannot reliably harvest the opportunities that the digital revolution will provide for us. What I would say as far as ASEAN is concerned, you know that we’ve committed to establishing a Smart Cities Network, you know we’ve started with twenty-six cities initially, but this network will grow.

The other point is that like everything which ASEAN does, we believe in an inclusive approach. We’re not making exclusive arrangements with any external party, or with any consortium of private providers. Cyber security will, if you go through the Joint Communiqué, cyber security is a concern for all of us. We will work with all partners who are willing to engage us, to share technology, share best practices as well as, in times like this, sometimes it’s to share your failures so that we don't repeat mistakes.

In the case of Singapore, you know we’ve just been the victim of a major cyber-attack, that’s all the more reason why we need to do the following things. First, understand what went wrong.  Second, analyse how best to prevent this same attack, or same type of attack vector from recurring. Third, we also have to acknowledge that this is an ongoing process; it’s a journey, it’s not a destination.  So even as we close one gap, there will be other threats which are evolving and we need to maintain, therefore, this attitude of healthy skepticism, knowing that even as we improve our systems, there will be emerging threats in future, and the way to deal with it is to be aware that this is a constant challenge.

Furthermore, to also be aware that in today’s world, and especially with today’s technology, these threats can emerge from any part of the world, and it is important for us therefore to establish partnerships with as many partners as possible, in order to expand our reservoir of technical competence as well as intelligence and operational capability.  So it’s not an exclusive arrangement we’re looking for; it’s basically one where we want to have as many partners as possible, in order to secure our networks so that we can maximize our opportunities from the digital revolution.

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