Statement on 5th U.S.-Singapore Strategic Partnership Dialogue

The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America and Singapore on the occasion of the 5th United States-Singapore Strategic Partnership Dialogue on October 25, 2022 in Washington, D.C.

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1. United States Assistant Secretary of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and Singapore Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Albert Chua met in Washington, D.C. on October 25, 2022, to co-chair the 5th United States-Singapore Strategic Partnership Dialogue. Building on the momentum of the S.-Singapore Joint Leaders Statement by President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the latter's visit to Washington D.C. in March 2022 and Vice President Kamala Harris's visit to Singapore in August 2021, the United States and Singapore used this dialogue to strengthen cooperation on the range of bilateral, regional and global challenges under the U.S.-Singapore Strategic Partnership.

2. In the spirit of equal partnership, mutual respect, and desire to promote closer ties, the co-chairs reviewed the ongoing areas of cooperation between the United States and Singapore, and discussed ways to expand collaboration in several areas such as defense and economic cooperation, climate change and clean energy, health security, technology, cyber security, and regional capacity building.

3. The co-chairs exchanged views on regional and global developments and underscored the importance of upholding the rules-based international order. The two sides also exchanged views on the recent tensions in the Taiwan Strait. The United States stressed that there is no change to its longstanding U.S. one China policy, and reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, called for cross-Strait differences to be resolved peacefully, and expressed its opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo. Singapore highlighted that stable U.S.-China relations are vital to global and regional peace, stability and prosperity, and reiterated the importance of the U.S. and China maintaining open channels of communication to reduce risks of misunderstanding and miscalculations.

4. The co-chairs shared deep concern over the situation in Myanmar and the challenges it poses to regional stability. The two sides continued to call for an end to violence against civilians in Myanmar, the release of all political prisoners, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and those that are foreign nationals; unhindered humanitarian access; and for Myanmar to return to its path of democratic transition. We appreciate the constructive role played by Singapore and ASEAN in facilitating a peaceful solution in the interest of the people of Myanmar, and we call for the Myanmar military authorities to urgently implement the ASEAN Five Point Consensus. We are concerned the crisis has reversed years of economic progress in Myanmar and increased the risk of illicit finance. Both sides reaffirmed that all concerned Parties must abide by the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and reiterated support for ASEAN-led efforts to develop an effective and substantive Code of Conduct for the South China Sea that upholds the legitimate rights and interests of all parties and is consistent with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

5. The two sides discussed the importance of ASEAN Centrality and the ASEAN-centered regional architecture. The United States and Singapore applauded the strengthening of U.S.-ASEAN ties and looked forward to finalizing the ASEAN-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The United States seeks cooperation with all partners who share our objectives in the Indo-Pacific region, and to that end, we welcome the Quad's support for ASEAN Centrality, deeper economic integration, addressing of regional challenges, and promotion of an open, inclusive, stable and secure Indo-Pacific region and a rules-based order. Singapore looked forward to working with the US on its hosting of APEC in 2023.

6. The co-chairs reaffirmed their mutual commitment to the U.S.-Singapore defense relationship and bilateral security partnership, which benefits from U.S. forces' access to Singapore's military facilities for transit and logistics support, the training of Singaporean military in the United States, and excellent security cooperation. Both sides reaffirmed the 1990 Memorandum of Understanding Regarding United States Use of Facilities in Singapore (most recently renewed in 2019), as well as the 2005 Strategic Framework Agreement for a Closer Cooperation Partnership in Defense and Security, and the 2015 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

7. The United States and Singapore condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Russia's attempted annexation of Ukrainian territory, and reaffirmed the steps taken by each side to impose their own financial sanctions and export controls against Russian entities. Both sides appreciated and committed to continue to expand long-standing bilateral counterproliferation cooperation to prevent the illicit transfer of weapons and technology. The co-chairs emphasized the importance of regular coordination and looked forward to the 15th annual Counterproliferation Dialogue in 2023.

8. The United States and Singapore affirmed the strong economic and trade ties between the two countries, and the shared commitment to promoting broad-based economic growth in the United States, Singapore, and in the Indo-Pacific region. Both sides welcomed further progress on the Memorandum of Understanding implementing the U.S.-Singapore Partnership for Growth and Innovation, signed by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Minister for Trade and Investment Gan Kim Yong in October 2021, which aims to secure inclusive growth for our economies and regions in new and forward-looking areas. The United States and Singapore looked forward to advancing the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). Singapore welcomed the United States' continued and constructive engagement in the region, and both sides emphasized the shared commitment to a free, open, fair, inclusive, interconnected, resilient, stable, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region that has the potential to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and reaffirmed the commitment to fair and open markets and the rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core. The United States and Singapore pledged to continue supporting efforts to secure resilient global supply chains.

9. The co-chairs welcomed further progress on new areas of cooperation announced during Vice President Harris's visit to Singapore in August 2021, including climate change and clean energy, health security, technology, cyber security, and regional capacity building Both sides reiterated the shared commitment to bolster global health security, including bringing an end to the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and in preparing for future pandemics. The United States and Singapore reaffirmed their strong support as founding members of the new Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF) for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPR) at the World Bank, and discussed its priorities and the need to mobilize innovative and sustainable financing sources in the long-term.

10. The United States and Singapore discussed new areas for cooperation under the U.S.-Singapore Climate Partnership and applauded joint cooperation in co-hosting exchanges and workshops to build expertise in the region on climate mitigation, clean energy, and environmental sustainability through the Smart Cities Green Buildings Program, Smart Cities Professional Exchanges Program and the U.S.-Singapore Third Country Training Program. They discussed working towards better coordination and synergy among the broad cross section of agencies working on the climate and clean energy issues.

11. Both sides affirmed the importance of ensuring an open, accessible, and secure technology and communication ecosystem and discussed furthering collaboration in critical and emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Both sides applauded the successful launch of a new U.S.-Singapore Cyber Dialogue to coordinate on the broad range of cyber cooperation across both governments' agencies and jointly address cyber threats, promote resilience, and secure our critical infrastructure. We reaffirm our commitment on global adherence to the UN framework of responsible state behavior in cyberspace, including at the UN Open-ended Working Group on security of and in the use of information and communications technologies, and we will continue to jointly lead critical efforts in the International Counter Ransomware Initiative to tackle the scourge of ransomware attacks worldwide.