Speech by Ong Keng Yong
Secretary-General of ASEAN
at the National Security Australia Conference 2005
Sydney, 21 February 2005
1. I would like to thank the organizers of the National Security Australia 2005 for inviting me to participate in this third annual event.
2. We face many transnational challenges in our globalised milieu. In 2003, we saw the rapid impact of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS. Then, lethal outbreaks of avian influenza hit several countries in the region. We battled forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, which generated trans-boundary haze in parts of Southeast Asia. Most recently, the Indian Ocean Tsunami brought catastrophic human and physical devastation to many countries in the region.
3. But the threat of terrorism is ever present. It is very different from the other transnational challenges. It is a premeditated weapon of psychological warfare for political purposes perpetrated against vulnerable targets. Our job is to remain on course on counter-terrorism measures that we have committed to undertake either individually or collectively.
4. Here lies the challenge of today’s world – we need to develop institutions and leadership capable of responding head-on with the unexpected and inter-related problems that affect us all.
5. We are called upon to respond to all these challenges almost at the same time. And respond we must if we have to instill courage and inspire hope in our people.
6. There are at least three messages that I would like to convey in this conference. First, ASEAN remains seized with the challenge of terrorism. Second, international terrorism requires responses at the regional and international level. And third, overcoming terrorism requires more than military and law enforcement solutions.
ASEAN efforts in combating terrorism
7. ASEAN’s efforts in combating terrorism began before 9/11. It began in 1997 when the ASEAN Ministers of Interior and Home Affairs decided to meet for the first time. The preceding decade witnessed major acts of terrorism in various parts of the world.
8. The ASEAN Ministers of Interior and Home Affairs issued the ASEAN Declaration on Transnational Crime. They created the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) which has been mandated to coordinate with other ASEAN bodies, such as the ASEAN Law Ministers and Attorneys-General, the ASEAN Chiefs of National Police, the ASEAN Finance Ministers, the Directors-General of Immigration and the Directors-General of Customs in the investigations, prosecution and rehabilitation of perpetrators of transnational crimes, including international terrorism.
9. The 9/11 terrorist attacks accelerated the pace of ASEAN counter-terrorism cooperation that included the following:
- Adoption of the ASEAN Declaration on Joint Action to Counter Terrorism at the 7th ASEAN Summit on 5 November 2001 in Brunei Darussalam. ASEAN has actively carried out at least two main components of the Declaration. These are the establishment of network among ASEAN’s front-line law enforcement agencies in combating terrorism and enhancing intelligence exchange.
- Undertaking of several training in psychological operation/warfare for law enforcement officials and on intelligence procuring, bomb/explosive detection, post-blast investigation, airport security and travel document security, immigration matters and cross-border controls. One of these training activities was conducted in early 2004 with the assistance of the Australian Government through The Distillery Intelligence Solutions.
- Consideration of adopting an ASEAN Convention on Counter-Terrorism as included in the recently adopted ASEAN Security Community Plan of Action. Such an instrument would make our commitments legally binding.
International cooperation against terrorism
10. Cooperation with other countries or groups of countries has also accelerated and given greater attention. This subject has preoccupied the agenda of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) – a group of 23 Asia Pacific countries plus the European Union – for the last four years. Some of these initiatives include:
- ARF cooperation in the areas of law enforcement and intelligence agencies; suppression of terrorist financing; strengthening of border security involving the movement of people, goods and documents; and strengthening security in all modes of transport – on the road, by rail, at sea, in the air, and by pipelines – including against piracy and smuggling.
- Establishment of the ARF Inter-sessional Meeting on Counter-terrorism and Transnational Crime (ISM-CTTC). This body promotes sharing of country experiences and best practices in promoting transport security on the road, rail, air, sea, and multi-modal means of transportation.
- The ISM-CTTC also monitors the adherence of ARF participants in international legal frameworks, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines for aviation security; the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation Convention (Among ASEAN countries, Brunei Darussalam, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Viet Nam have joined the SUA Convention); and the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.
11. ASEAN has entered into several agreements in counter-terrorism, transnational crime or non-traditional security threats with several countries, namely Australia (June 2004), China (November 2002), the European Union (January 2003), India (October 2003), Japan (November 2004), the Russian Federation (June 2004), and the United States (August 2002).
12. Under the ASEAN-Australia Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism, the two sides have agreed, among others, to (1) enhance cooperation and liaison among their law enforcement and security agencies; (2) improve intelligence and information-sharing, including on terrorist financing and crime related to money laundering; and (3) extend mutual assistance on transport security and border and immigration control.
13. The Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime has also been established in the ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan and the Republic of Korea) process since January 2004.
Maritime Security
14. Let me focus a little bit more on the challenge of strengthening maritime security, which I am sure many of you have interest in.
15. As you know, 90 percent of the total world’s trade involves sea transport. Therefore, secure waterways are vital to the prosperity of the world. This is particularly so in our region where 2,500 LNG/LPG tankers, half the world’s oil, and one-third of the world’s shipping pass through the Malacca and Singapore Straits. More than 300 vessels of above 300 gross tons use the Malacca Straits every day.
16. One way to illustrate the potential cost of a possible terrorist attack on ports is to recall the two-week lockout at 29 U.S. West Coast ports in late 2002. That labour situation delayed more than 200 ships carrying 300,000 containers. Railcars and inter-modal shipments were parked across the United States as U.S. and Asian exports filled warehouses, freezers and grain elevators. Ships made costly diversions to other ports and many businesses laid off workers or cut back production.
17. The disruption at U.S. West Coast ports cost Asian economies an average of 0.4 percent of nominal GDP. The negative impact in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia was estimated to be as high as 1.1 percent of their nominal GDP.
18. Thus, we take maritime security seriously. For example:
- Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have agreed to undertake cooperative patrols in the Straits of Malacca since July 2004.
- On 11 November 2004, ASEAN in cooperation with the Plus Three countries (China, Japan and RoK) and Indian Ocean countries (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) adopted the Regional Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia. Under this agreement, an Information Sharing Centre will be set up in Singapore.
- Agreement and support by countries in the Malacca and Singapore Straits for the IMO’s Marine Electronic Highway (MEH) Demonstration Project for five years. Under the project, ships will receive information on real-time situation of navigation, which should reduce the risk of accident and environmental pollution at sea.
- Under the Statement on Transport Security by the ASEAN Regional Forum, the participants have committed to support the transport security initiatives of the IMO and to hold joint simulation exercises and coordinated special operations. Thus, to lay the groundwork for such collaboration, 23 countries plus the EU held maritime security workshop in Kuala Lumpur in September last year and will do so again in Singapore in March this year.
- ASEAN is discussing the need to criminalize piracy or to improve national legislations to apprehend and prosecute offenders. This is important because of the relatively small number of states parties to the IMO’s 1988 Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA Convention). In ASEAN, five countries are parties to the SUA Convention, namely Brunei Darussalam, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.
- Appropriate ASEAN bodies are looking into the Model National Law, which has been prepared by a Working Group led by the Comite Maritime International, International Chamber of Commerce, the International Maritime Bureau, International Maritime Organization and INTERPOL.
19. Even as we undertake the above measures, we need to keep in mind the imperative of integration both at the national and international levels. We need to pull together our personnel, technology and physical infrastructure resources to serve all civilian and military assets necessary to detect, assess and respond to marine security threats. We need an effective network to facilitate communication between civilian and military fleets and between our ports and ships at sea.
20. We should narrow our differing threat perceptions to enable us to adopt technical capabilities that are interoperable. We should avoid vendor-driver acquisitions of hardware or platforms. New technologies, such as modern radar systems, satellites and integrated communications systems, should be employed based on actual needs identified by the littoral states themselves individually and collectively. In other words, we should go back to the basics by forging common understanding of the mission, knowing existing capabilities, gaps and limitations and agreeing on a roadmap for the future.
21. The complexity of the situation in the Straits of Malacca is a product of various factors, such as different types of threats faced by different countries, multiple stakeholders both regional and non-regional, different degrees of interest, state of bilateral relations, and legal implications of different territorial jurisdictions. We need to develop multilateral arrangements that are transparent so that we could enhance mutual trust and confidence, which should mitigate such complexity. New initiatives and technologies should be introduced and harnessed for the two-fold mission of protecting ports and securing supply chain and nothing more.
22. In our region, we have a very active Federation of ASEAN Shipowners’ Associations and the ASEAN Ports Association, which are working with our authorities to advance their legitimate interest in this field. It could only serve our mutual interest if their Australian counterparts could develop more cooperative relations with them.
23. I understand that in addition to discussion on what policies and cooperative measures the various governments in the region are undertaking to counter terrorism, this conference will devote substantial time to look at best practices in protecting critical infrastructure and the role of the private sector in this regard. I encourage you to do so because you are on the frontline and we could learn much from your insights and ideas.
The need for a comprehensive approach
24. We all know that terrorism cannot be eliminated through law enforcement and police actions alone. Deep-seated resentments arising from social inequality, poverty and lack of opportunities serve as fuel to terrorism propaganda. This is why I believe that a prosperous ASEAN, made possible through greater economic competitiveness and equality, is the most effective long-term measure against terrorism. A citizenry trustful of its government and hopeful of the future is our best defense against those sowing hatred and destruction.
25. Development agencies can help us through continued technical assistance while our traditional trading partners could help by keeping the line of trade and investment opportunities open between our two sides.
Conclusion
26. Let me close by stating that terrorist attacks in parts of some countries in Southeast Asia do not make the entire region a troublesome place. ASEAN as a regional organization is working to ensure that Southeast Asia remains a secure environment to live in and a competitive place to do business. The international business community knows better and we hope that it will remain so. Thank you.
