PM Lee Hsien Loong’s Media Doorstop at the 26th ASEAN Summit in Langkawi

Q: PM can you wrap up the meetings and share how it has been?

PM: Well we are meeting just before a few months of the ASEAN Community which is at the end of the year so progress towards the ASEAN Community was one of the things which we have discussed. Really to put pressure on the officials to make progress on the last and most difficult parts of the items which we need to agree upon and to look beyond that to talk about the roadmap, the agenda, post 2015. One item on the agenda which Singapore is particularly keen on is to improve the efficiency and operation of ASEAN – the way the meetings are held, the way the dialogues are conducted, whether we can get better value for our time and do it more efficiently. That is something which in the general sense commands consensus and the officials have to work it out. On other broader issues, strategic issues, naturally South China Sea is one everybody’s mind and there are no easy solutions because each country is in a slightly different position. But the fact that we have the Declaration of Conduct (DOC) and that we are working towards a Code of Conduct (COC); that is something which we have agreed upon and something I think we have to persevere. The other item we talked about on security is terrorism, ISIS. I think it worries many countries, Indonesia certainly, Malaysia also, even other countries not directly affected have a view on this matter. For example, Cambodia expressed their view, and Singapore, you know what I have said, that on the one hand we have to deal with the security issue, the other hand we also have to deal with the ideological issue and the social issue so that we can have them rehabilitated and reintegrated into society. I think that is something which the ASEAN countries ought to work more closely together on.

Q: On the issue of South China Sea, how much of an urgency is there right now given recent developments we have seen?

PM: It is something which is being worked upon. The Thai country coordinator who coordinates ASEAN relations with China gave an update on the status of the COC discussions. They are making progress but in the nature of these discussions, they take some time. Of course the sooner we can get them done the better but to get it done sooner, all the parties have to agree to get it done sooner and it is not clear that all the parties want to it as soon as possible.

Q: 总理，请你谈一下峰会和这次的非正式峰会中聚焦哪一些课题。

PM: 我看有一组课题是关系到亚西安内部的合作和配合的问题。譬如我们亚西安统一市场的计划，和我们亚西安运作的方式和效率。这些具体务实的建议，我们都正在实行它。另一套问题是关系到整个区域的一些安全的问题和一些策略上的问题。例如，谈到恐怖主义分子在这个区域里猖獗活动，这个使很多国家的政府都相当头痛。另一方面，我们也谈到南中国海的问题， 因为南中国海这个局势是不断的演变的。各个国家正在采取行动，采取行动可能引起互动， 那互动可能发生摩擦，纠纷，冲突， 都是很麻烦的问题。所以这个是很棘手， 并且相当迫切的问题。我们有一个《南中国海行为宣言》 和 《南中国海行为准则》。《宣言》已经是大家都同意了，我们正在商讨中。我们希望可以尽快完成这个《南中国海行为准则》，降低发生意外事件的风险。

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