Watch: Swearing-in ceremony for PM Lawrence Wong and Cabinet
SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his new Cabinet were sworn into office at a ceremony at the Istana on Friday (May 23).
Mr Wong had announced his Cabinet on Wednesday, with Mr Gan Kim Yong as his sole deputy prime minister. There are also three new coordinating ministers.
Mr K Shanmugam will serve as coordinating minister for national security and continue as home affairs minister. Mr Chan Chun Sing will be coordinating minister for public services and take on a new portfolio as defence minister. And Mr Ong Ye Kung will take on the role of coordinating minister for social policies on top of being health minister.
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Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
China and US must keep talking to better understand each other: Chan Chun Sing
Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing speaking at the close of the Shangri-La Dialogue on June 1. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH Shangri-La Dialogue 2025 China and US must keep talking to better understand each other: Chan Chun Sing SINGAPORE - Direct dialogue between the United States and China must continue, as both sides would benefit from understanding each other's perspectives more deeply despite their differences, said Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing. Speaking at a media wrap-up on June 1 at the close of the Shangri-La Dialogue, Mr Chan said his private conversations with both delegations indicated that the superpowers do want to understand each other better, but that this would require frank dialogue. 'Even if they don't agree with what the other party says, it is important for them to hear what each other says and, perhaps more importantly, to understand why each party says what they say,' said Mr Chan. His comments followed two days of discussions at the annual security forum in Singapore, which brought together regional and global defence leaders at the Shangri-La Hotel. The press conference, attended by both local and foreign journalists, was dominated by questions about US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's speech at the forum's opening plenary, as well as China's lower-level representation at this year's gathering. On May 31, the Pentagon chief had warned that the threat China posed to its neighbours in the Indo-Pacific was 'real', and he called on Asian countries to raise their defence spending. Mr Chan said he had read Mr Hegseth's speech 'very carefully, more than once' and urged others to consider it in full rather than to focus only on certain parts. While the speech did highlight concerns about China's behaviour, he noted that it also contained a 'quite significant' message of US intent. Mr Hegseth had said the US did not seek war, nor to dominate or to strangle China. It also did not aim to encircle, provoke, or seek regime change, nor will it instigate or disrespect a proud and historic culture, he added. 'Yes, he did talk about the China threat,' said Mr Chan. 'But I think, and I may be wrong, it's the first time something like this has been stated so clearly. 'So I leave it to the audience to put the weights on the different parts of the speech.' Mr Chan stressed the importance of not looking at China or the US as monolithic powers, and that both societies have their domestic and external challenges. Understanding their internal dynamics will help countries understand why leaders of both powers do what they do, he added. This is why the two powers have to talk to one another directly, and where the value of the Shangri-La Dialogue lies, said Mr Chan. Replying to a question on how the US' and China's position on issues such as Taiwan and the South China Sea are so far apart that the two powers just talk over each other, Mr Chan said that is precisely why genuine dialogue is needed. Besides the plenary discussions, the forum's value is in allowing for small-group discussions with counterparts from around the world. Mr Chan said he himself had 13 such meetings on May 31, away from the main discussions. 'It's useful to just go into a room, have a cup of coffee, meet one another and exchange notes,' he said. 'And if Singapore can provide the coffee and the table and chairs, we will gladly do it.' Conversely, it is not very useful in defence diplomacy to exchange notes through social media, especially if the intent is to achieve deeper understanding, he added. On the absence of China's defence minister at the forum, Mr Chan reiterated that each country has their own considerations as to who they send, and there should not be an overemphasis on whether a certain personality attends or not. For the first time since 2019, China's defence minister did not attend the dialogue. In his place, the delegation was led by Rear-Admiral (RADM) Hu Gangfeng, the vice-president of the People's Liberation Army National Defence University. Mr Chan said he met with both the US and Chinese delegations, and that his message to both was the same: that military and economic security must reinforce each other, a perspective shared by many countries over the weekend. Reflecting on his first Shangri-La Dialogue as Defence Minister, Mr Chan said some of his counterparts had asked how he had been able to conduct the forum just seven days into assuming the defence portfolio. The event was clearly not put together in seven days, he said, but was the outcome of a year's worth of work by an entire team that included Mindef, the Singapore Armed Forces and other agencies. 'That is the beauty of the Singapore system - that it goes beyond the dependence on a single personality,' he said. He added that a remark made during the ministerial roundtable discussions that resonated with him was the phrase 'freedom is not free'. This was a powerful reminder that freedom requires commitment - both across political cycles, and in investments into people and capabilities, he said. Besides budgetary resources, freedom also requires public support for defence, and rising to meet new troubles and challenges, he added. 'If we have the commitment to seek peace (and) to work on building those relationships and trust, then I'm more confident, that we can overcome the challenges by finding solutions.' - Hariz Baharudin is a correspondent at The Straits Times covering politics. 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CNA
4 hours ago
- CNA
Duelling Diplomacies: India and Pakistan offer competing narratives at defence forum in Singapore
SINGAPORE: Fresh off their nerve-jangling, four-day conflict in May, top Indian and Pakistani military delegations have been making the rounds at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, billed as Asia's premier defence forum. While much of the attention was on US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's first visit to the gathering since taking up his post, and his warnings of the "imminent" threat he says is posed by China - along with China's response that the Americans should not "play with fire" and make "groundless accusations" - the longstanding tensions between these nuclear-armed neighbours also grabbed attention. India blames Pakistan for a deadly terror attack on tourists in the part of the disputed region of Kashmir that it controls, while Pakistan denies any involvement and says India has presented no proof. And just as these nations sit next to each other geographically, some of their top generals sat in neighbouring conference rooms inside the Shangri-La Singapore, taking part in simultaneous sessions late on Saturday (May 31) afternoon on topics ranging from defence innovation solutions to regional crisis-management mechanisms. "What India has done is politically they have drawn new red lines of the tolerance against terror," said General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff with the Indian Armed Forces. "That should bring about some lessons for our adversary also and, hopefully, they learn that this is a limit of India's tolerance. We've been subjected to this proxy war and terror for the past almost about two decades, or maybe more, and we've lost a lot of people and ... we want to put an end to it.' General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Pakistan Armed Forces, warned of what could happen should another clash occur, especially given that the fighting took place not just in the disputed region of Kashmir, but also in Pakistan itself. "The strategic stability with the lowering of this threshold to the dangerous levels if next time such a conflict occurs and the cities are targeted first and the borders become irrelevant mostly, so what you will see is that there could be a chance - I'm not trying to create an alarm but I'm speaking based on logic - there could be a possibility that before the international community intervenes because of the restricted or constricted times window, the damage and destruction may have already taken place." FROM CONFLICT TO DIPLOMATIC BLITZ Aside from last month's clash, which saw India strike Pakistani targets but also admit to losing an unspecified number of fighter jets during its "Operation Sindoor", the nations have fought four major wars since their independence in 1947. In the wake of the recent hostilities, both sides have moved from weapons to words, with India dispatching several delegations to visit more than 30 capitals in Asia and around the world. A similar effort by Pakistan is set to start on Jun 2. CNA spoke to a member of the multi-party Indian delegation that visited East and Southeast Asia during a stop in Singapore on May 27. Congress party leader and former Indian external affairs minister Salman Khurshid agreed with the views that the effort is unprecedented. "It is an innovation, in a sense. And the fact that there are multi-party delegations, seven of them across the world, to all members of the (UN) Security Council and prospective members of the Security Council. In that sense, it is unprecedented, and we've got enormous support," he said. "You might even put it as something that has started, something that will at least ensure that our narrative is carried right through." And that narrative is firmly focused on India's accusations that Pakistan isn't doing nearly enough to snuff out terrorism. "The fact remains that talking to them (Pakistan) hasn't worked. Therefore, we are not talking to them now. We've said clearly, put an end to terrorism and then everything can follow. As long as you don't put an end to terrorism, no talks, nothing, no communications, no trade. That's the bottom line that we've drawn for them." But Pakistan's General Sahir Shamshad Mirza told CNA in a wide-ranging interview that Pakistan is in fact taking on terrorism on its soil and working to tackle cross-border terrorism from groups based in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. "Why would Pakistan know or be involved in this (Kashmir) incident, when Pakistan's number one is consolidating its fight against terrorism," he asked on the sidelines of the Shangri-La dialogue. "We are on an upward path in our economy." Mr Mirza said terrorism has cost his country hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives. He alleged India lashed out, "without any investigation, without any initial inquiry, internal inquiry, without any shred of evidence". CONVENTIONAL AND UNCONVENTIONAL WEAPONS India and Pakistan's 96-hour confrontation was seen as a test of the rivals' respective weapons systems, including India's French-made Rafale fighter jets and Pakistan's Chinese-made J10-C jets, armed with Chinese-made missiles. But the top generals on both sides have said their military forces can pick and choose when it comes to their firepower. "India doesn't depend on one nation for its defence needs,' said General Chauhan during his session. "It's a number of capabilities which were put together, and most of these capabilities were put to good effects.' Pakistan's General Mirza told CNA his capabilities include weapons from China and many other places. "I have the military equipment from US. I have the military equipment from Turkiye. I have the military equipment from Italy. I have the military equipment from UK," he listed. "We have the equipment from all equipment-producing countries." In addition, both sides relied on drones while also facing serious threats in the form of disinformation. But global concern was firmly fixed on the unconventional weapons they both possess, the ones that can cause widespread destruction and loss of life. The countries continue to maintain that the use of nuclear weapons was never on the table, with Pakistani officials, including General Mirza to CNA, dismissing reports that Islamabad called a meeting of the National Command Authority, the body that oversees Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. However, General Mirza said what is seen as an ambiguous policy on nuclear weapons would become less ambiguous, "if you enable a capability to one country and deny a capability to another country". "The tools of modern conflict, they are artificial intelligence, electronic warfare, cyber, precision, firepower and weapons," he said. "If there is a yawning gap in either of these, or two of these, so this will place the other country at a disadvantage. So, when a country is at a disadvantage - at the moment we are not, let me be clear - if that goes beyond a proportion, it puts a stress." TRUMP, TRADE AND A TORN-UP WATER TREATY US President Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he used the issue of trade access to broker the India-Pakistan ceasefire, most recently on Friday. "I think the deal I'm most proud of is the fact that we're dealing with India, we're dealing with Pakistan and we were able to stop potentially a nuclear war through trade as opposed through bullets," he said. India has denied Mr Trump was the deciding factor, and has said it was talk between the neighbours' militaries and not tariffs that made the difference. Pakistan sees things differently. "Sadly, the Indians have not, I think, accepted that President Trump was there in the ceasefire. It was actually brokered by President Trump," General Mirza told CNA, while also noting that many other nations played a role. "It was thanks to the US that they finally were able to affect their ceasefire." But the truce is not the end of this dispute. New Delhi has suspended the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty, which is meant to govern the use of rivers that mainly flow through India and are critical for Pakistan's agriculture and water supply. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed that, "India's water will flow for India, stay for India, and serve India." But not observing the agreement, which was brokered by the World Bank and signed in 1960, is a red line for Pakistan. "For 240 million people, most of which is an agrarian society, if you stop, hold or lower, slow the flow of water, if you are at my place, what would you do?' asked General Mirza.
Business Times
5 hours ago
- Business Times
Going alone is not the answer to security questions: Chan Chun Sing
[SINGAPORE] Political and military leaders must arrest the temptation to go it alone when they feel insecure, as history has many examples of such an approach backfiring, Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing said on Sunday(June 1). This is as attempts to prioritise one's security without due regard for international laws and norms could easily lead to greater insecurity in others, sparking a vicious spiral that begets greater insecurity, Chan said at the sixth and final plenary session of the Shangri-La Dialogue. This applies to all aspects of security, including countries' economic well-being, he added, recalling a point made by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the forum a day earlier that faltering trade has consequences that ripple beyond any one region. Chan said today's world is not unlike the 1930s, when beggar-thy-neighbour policies arguably contributed to expansionist and irredentist foreign policies that culminated in World War II. As competition in the security and economic domains increase, so has the need for guardrails and communication channels to reduce the risk of miscalculation, he said. He cited how Singapore and Malaysia both respected an international tribunal's directive when there was a disagreement over reclamation works, and thereby managed to reach an amicable settlement. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'While the issue began with acrimony, the warmth and civility between the negotiating teams led to an amicable resolution,' he noted. The two neighbours still have their differences, but have continued to deepen cooperation, such as through the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, he said. Chan emphasised that while great powers have great responsibilities when it comes to upholding international rules, small countries also have agency and responsibility in upholding the global economic and security order. On its part, Singapore is committed to engaging both the US and China without taking any sides. 'We believe that taking sides, regardless of issues and context, breeds irrelevance,' he said. 'And if one is irrelevant, it will almost certainly require (one) to take sides.' Instead, Singapore takes the side of principles that promote a more integrated global economic and security order, where states have a fair chance to compete and can improve the lives of their people through trade rather than war, he added. Noting that emerging security challenges have to do with threats against networked infrastructure that transcend borders, Chan said Singapore is working with Asean partners to develop principles to facilitate defence cooperation for the region's critical underwater infrastructure. Fellow speakers at the plenary also shared different ways by which small states can contribute to tackling security problems. Sweden's Defence Minister, Dr Pal Jonson, noted his country's expertise in psychological defence and in responding to information operations, and how small states like Sweden and Singapore are ranked well when in innovation and research capabilities. Papua New Guinea Defence Minister Billy Joseph said his country amplifies its voice by working through multilateral forums such as the South Pacific Defence Ministers' Meeting and the Pacific Islands Forum. The Pacific Response Group, a disaster coordination organisation formed in November 2024, helped Vanuatu following an earthquake there a month later, added Dr Joseph. Responding to a question about Singapore's diplomatic approach, Chan said small states are realistic that engagement is not on the basis of sympathy or charity, but on being successful and having value-add. Singapore's approach is to look at the principles that will best enable it to survive and thrive, he added. For instance, on Ukraine, Chan said the principle the Republic holds dear is that of the sovereignty of nations, as it would be a dangerous world if one country can march into another on the basis of wanting to right the wrongs of history. Holding to this principle meant it has stood up to great powers in the past for doing the same, as the greater risk is of the principle no longer being observed by countries big and small, he added. On questions about understanding China's perspectives, Chan said it is in the interest of everyone to work with China, and vice versa. This year's summit was the first time since 2019 that China did not send its defence minister, which raised questions about Beijing's continued engagement with the region. If China perceives that the world does not respect or understand it sufficiently, it is incumbent upon the country to use every opportunity possible, including the Shangri-La Dialogue, to get its voice heard and make clear its stance, said Chan. He urged countries to deepen efforts to understand others, so that they do not end up with simplistic interpretations or misreadings of other people's intentions. Chan was also asked if Singapore would apply the concept of self-determination to the case of Taiwan. Responding, he said it was scary to hear simplistic explanations that try to frame the conflict as one between democracy and autocracy, or to draw 'unhelpful parallels' between Taiwan and Ukraine. How the issue is going to be resolved, if not managed, will have to be determined by the Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, he added. People on both sides share similar end goals of having security, including economic security, and the hope is that channels of communication can be opened so they can discuss where their shared future lies, said Chan. Chan said his final takeaway from the forum was the need for deeper cooperation, given the complexity of the issues confronting the world. 'Today, the challenges that we face are not geographically isolated challenges (but) are interwoven,' he said. 'And to solve those issues... we need to build the solutions at the network level, and all of us can contribute to that – be it big or small countries.' THE STRAITS TIMES
