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NRtional Archives an MC/AUG/62/70 (FDREIGN AFFAIRf3)

tre~ Singap · .:.

2 SEP 197 SPEEX::H DY THE SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOTIEIGN .AFFAIRS 2 MR. A. RAHIM ISHAK2 AT THE" J3EOOK CONSTITUENCY NATIONAL Di'J DINNER .AT DEDOK SOUTH AVENUE; 2 & CJi.R

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PARK NO. 6j ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 27, 19]8 1 AT 8 P.M.

I am vocy ploascd to be with You all toclay • . · - Thirteen years

is a, brief period in !mmn.n .hi~tory but they have .been momentous

yea.rs for people of Singapore. It · is appropriate on this occasion

to rE::flect on th'e changes that _have ta.ken place both in Singapore

and the world ·outSidl.e. For ,¥0 Hve L1· an' inoreasinC,'ly inter-

dependent world. brought closer by the m:i.Facle of modern corrµnunic&-

tions and electronics. ~- Yet we ~ome n.cross SOJ!!e _people in Singapore

who do not seem to r ealise this fact. We cannot afford to be likR

i;he proverbial frag living under a coconut shell. We have to ta.ke

note Of the poli tiQa l and €:lCOnomic developments around US and in the

world at larg e and take appropriate steps to ad just .our positions

not only in international a ffairs but . also in domestic matters s o

that we aro ·not caught . on the . wrong foot.-

· 7 Thirteen years ago 1 the United States wns enga,3ed in a bitter

war inVietnam to help the southern ha lf of Vietnam to resist the

northern · ha lf. North Vietnam was supriorted by both the Soviet

Union anci· China which accused the United St a tes of imperi a list

,ngc,;ression ruid intervention. Tocloy, . the United Stntes ho.s wi thdro:wn .. ;~·- . ; .

fr ; m Viotnr.un which hns bocomo unified under a communist rule and

.we see tho Soviet Uni0n ru1cl Ch:i.na a.ccus±ng e.:1ch other of seeking

to ~xpand ' its inf:),_1,tence in the re[sion. China accuses the Soviets

of seeking hGtgemoey over the roGiono It. links . this attempt with

the Soviet proposal of 10 years ig'o for ·an Asian _collective security

system. That pr oposal has ~-ot :rcicoivecl mucp_. sup.Port' in Asia. China

a lso allor~es tha t .the Soviet · Union has established a mili ta:ry bas e

in Vietnµqi 9-t Camranh Day • . · $he\.1;iso .claims tha t by j oininr; Comccon,

the Coun_cil :for mutua l economic ass ;istance of the Soviet Union and

East Europe , Vietnam has become a pawn of the Soviet Union. China

des-crib.cs V.i e tncJJU as the Soviet Union's Cuba in Asia. China has

a lso cit,,Jd- .the recent c o-up d 1 o-bp,'t in ,\fGhanist'an which installed

a pro-Soviet •••••• 2/ -

:r •.;· :

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a pr o- Sovi et Govor nmant and Sovi e t and Cuban i nt ervention i n

c onflicts between 1·1.fric.:m sta t es as eviclonee of Sovie t runbi tions

t o dominat e tho world . . ·, ; .. ·

. _·.~ ·, "\> .~-'. \: ·: . .:: ... :.:: .'. ', ___ :.-~ - · ·,)n ·t he ot her hand , tho Soviet Uni on accuses China of exer c i s i nCT

b i g na t i on chc1.µvin ;i..sm · a:.n<l wanh-n~ t o:·:3:r"1ni~··c9µritries on its per i phery

... P_aitfy~ ~~~Jrt~t:~t;~h_;~ ~; As t~.~d;;: 1~?~i~f-~~·b~~ - ·· It cla ims that ·--c hina ' ~ .SJJp.po.r.~-.:e-f·· Kampuc hea 1n i "ts· ·conflict wH h .V1et nrun i s

.. . . ,; - - ' .. -. '. . . .

eviclcnc c· ·of Tts--dc~ i-;;;- tc; ext end its influence i n the r ec;i on. The

Sovie t Uni on a lso claims t hat t he presence of l ar ~o number s of .. ,,·., '. ... e thnic Chinese i n Sout·hoast As i an cou ntri es pr ovides a c onveni ent . . . -~ '' .. .. '. : ,. . .

t oo l fo~ : Chi na t o m~i pulat ~ aeali~~ t tho le{:s_i t J !lla t o p,over nment of those countri es . The Sovi e t ·union c l a ims tha t China uses the

- ' i.

over seas Chinos.a as .. a f i f t h co lurnh for su bver s i on in countries

like flla lcy_s i p., Thailand ··and ·Iriclono~ i ~ whor e _t hor e arc l arg o nu mber s ~:· . -· . . . . .

__ .. qf . e t hnic Ch~nose . The · Sovie t Union accuses Ch i na of appealing ' .

t o Chines e chauvini s tic scmtimcnt }3 whon it . appeal s t o over seas

Chinese in the . wes t ern: countri es , ;iarticu l ar ly the Uni t ocl St a t es ,

wi t h _ s ci enti f ic ancl t echno l og i c a l ski lls t o return t o he l p dev e l o~

Chin' s i ndu s tri a l and sc i entific ·,es t ab l i s hments.

The r e l ati ons be-t ween the two super power s , the United St a t es

and the Sov i e t Uni :m a l so pr ovi c~e ammuniti on f or China ' s critic i s m.

C.h,i ri.a b l ames bo t h supcr ;power s f pr the pr esent t ens i on ·and insecurity

_in the wcrlc.l . Sho clai ms t hat whilo both are pr 9fess i ne det ent e ,

or r e l axing of t ension, thoy are i n -f 2.c t he i Ghtening t ens i on by

c ontinuing . t o b uild up t heir arms f:lt ogkpile • . . China cla ims that

c.le t ente i s not ;::ossible when the two s u p(jlr power s are pr:xlucing

tho l a t Gs t nuclear woap::ms such. as tho neutron bomb • . :.llia t i s

w~ the e f forts t o havo ~trat ee;ic arm~ limitati ons have not been

su cc·essfule ·

The United St a t es , : f or i t s part, aft or t ho bitter i essoris of

Vie tnam , seems determined, riot t o c;e t invol vecl again in a :s imilar

·\ja:r ·'whe t he; i n As i a or Afric a . · Nev erthelciss , China and t he · Sciv i ot . .

Tin i 6n s till ac cu se the Uni t ecl St a t es of i mperi a lis m. However,

this l ab ei ' of i 1iper i a lism .WO#S a: little " t h.in . "Altho~c h · t ho ·:.

-Un i t ecl St a t es i s involved i n. the spread · cii' inui t:£.:..nEi.t i o.ri.al compani es

ac r oss the worlcl , .i t .c annot . be · accu stxl' ·St G'np,aei ng . in "tho Leninis t .

sense ·of 'imperi alis m, the -hightis t : s t a t o 'o f . capi t aI:ism. Somo

; ... " Eur opean c ountri es ••• 3/-

3 -. European countri es are a l so being accused of i mperia lism by

ccmrrrunis t c ountri es bec ause of their multi-nati ona l s o

Under , the s hallow of this su per power riva lryf tho non-

a ligned movement, started i n 1961, hns a lso under gone change .

When Ne.hru, Tito and Nass er s t art ed the movement in JJe l ~r ooe ,

the intenti on was not t o r,et involved in the c o l d war between

the two b l ocs l ed by the Unite Sta t es and the SoviGt Union.

The non-a ligned mov ement mainta ined this character s i s tic in th0

s ixti es a l thour:h some countri es tilted one way or the other.

F0r a non-a ligndd na tion, the criteria was tha t it must not b o

involved. in the c o l d war b etween the two blocs and it must not

have f or ei gn military bases on its s oil. Nowadays, China is

accusing the Soviet Union of undermining the nQn-ali[;ned movement

by us in~ Cuba t o he l p i ndependent African countri es fi0ht other

in,le:;::,endent African countries . Cuba came under attack a t De l r;r ade

l as t month f or sceki nB t o deliver the non- a ligned movement t o t he

Sovi e t Union. On tho other hand , some of the other non-a ligned

c ountri es like Za ire c a lled in wes t ern power s like Franc e t o he l p

fight its r ebe l s , the Ka t anges e . Some ncm- a ligned countries are

hoavi]y dependent on the United Sta t es f or military and other

f orms of a i cl . Thus , bo th the United St a t es and . tho Soviet Union

ar e involved i n c onflicts between ind ependent s t a t e s be l ongi ng

t o the non-alic;nod mov ement. They ar o fi F,htinr; pr o:xy wars in tho

Third World ~~thout thems elves go i ng t o war.

Given this flui d and chan6inG s itua ti on in the world , it

behoves us i n Sins aiJor e t o be constant]y a l ert . t o d.evelopments

which might hav o ad.v er se r epercuss i ons on us ~ Until C(Uit e r ec ently

the Sovi et Union ancl Vie tnam accused As aan of bein~ a ~r ou ping

manipula t ecl by the United Sta t es f or m:i..l i t ary purpo·rn~ t o r ep l ::ice

the Southeas t As i a Trea ty Or r,ani za ti or .. (SEATO ). Ind.cod , durinr;

both the Asean summits in Dali and. Ku.11.i. Iu mpur, VH,tn am accused

s ome of the As i an members of boinG .Arr.er i c an l ackeys . In r ec ent

, woek..9 7 however, a ll these accusatior.s have been ,iro;ped. and Asean

has overni r,ht bec ome a fir ou p of gor. J h~ys. So , \·re :r 1.s t b e car efu l

when both the riva ls f or influern1,: ·i n the regi on - O:)me wooi ng

,lsean as well as Sinp .1,r1or e t o joi.r c i:io •) amp or anoilhe-' or t o s t a t e

t heir peac eful intenti ons while a~cu·s :i.ng "th e other of i xpans i oni sm .

We h,w e • , ..... 4/-

J I f I I I I

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We h ave t o·b e cor di a l bu t .. c autiou s in how we r es pond t o such

ov ertures ~ We mus t ex amine wey these riva l s are c oming do wn t o

s eek our fri ends hip . I s it in our interest t o · be alignecl with

one or the other'? How c an we s t eer a neutra l cour~e without

offending both parties? . We must wei gh these ques tions and

a l so ' seek t o impr ove c onsulta ti ons and cooper ation with our I

immedi a te nei ghbours in ltsean so tha t we are not s plit by outs i ders who hav e their .own motives .

The signing of the Troo:l;y of Peace and Friendship by J apar.

ancl China earlier this month is y et anothe r internati on a l

development which inevitab ly must !m'Ve its impact and imp lica-

tio ns f or u s in Sine:apo r e and on Southeast As i a . This nru.s t b e ·

s o becaus e the J apan-China Trea ty s hou l d be s een in the c ontext

of the Sino-Sovi et riva lry which appears t o have hei Ghtenea with

r.Ir. Hua Kuo-feng' s curr ent vis it t o Romani a and Yugos l avia .

Both China a nd the Sovi e t Union vri ll have t heir own vi ews and

inter pretation of t he trea ty . China pr obably , sees the treaty

as 1J apan 's decis i on · t ~ be clos er t o her. On the other hand , the

Sov i et Union cou l d see it as a n att eopt by China , J a pan and.

the United St a t es t o curb her influenc e in Eas t Asia and Southeast

As i a. There is G.l so the ques tion ·of the t !'e2.ty ' s i mpact on

Vietnam . J ap an ' s pos_i tion af t er the s i gni ng· of this treaty will

have t o be r eQ.Gs ess ed by thos e who des ire· t o have an influence

in the Asia-Pacific r eei on .

We i n Singapore mus t l ook out fo r r epercus s i ons 6f thes e

l at erit d 3v e l opmcnt s on the international s c ene because the riva l s

involve~~- mi e ht u se the i r i nfl uence t o pr essure s mall countries

t o t ake their sitles . It will be surpris ing if they do not.- --'llhc ..

f ac t thn·~ thos o rivals and their a lli es are wooing us 'f or our

f ri end~L '.p s hou l d a.J.ert us t o tho need t o c ontinue t o b e non-

a lie;uod. It i s G. dif fer ent thing , . of cours e, if they s hould

b e woci r,.e us n.fter taey hav e patched up their differ enc es . ·,

~ . i n Si nPaporo ;i..ro ag4i ns t hegemol'.\Y by a:ny of the big power s t

be i t t) 1e · Sovi et UniCllt Chi na , the United St a t es or Japano We

want ~~t,"' live i n the ~rqy · wo have chos en f or our selves ancl i n peace

wi t h 11:i. nati ons . ·· \•fo , .;,::m_ ensure this by r e lying on our own effo r t s

t o ea•rn,\ mr living iy- ·;·';hi s hars h wor l d . We cannot a f fo r d ·t o slG.cken. ·. I ~ t~, 3 ~·ircums t an~c~: i}J .: aa·n· should r em~ ·n ·as uni t erl as ever . I ndee:l ,

we_ she ,uld c lose r anks f n d eo on consolidating our or gani s a t ion

fu r the ir i n t h o f ac e .o :; ur.: .cert ai nties i n t he future .