[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
[November 16, 2006]
[Pages 2086-2092]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at the National Singapore University in Singapore
November 16, 2006
Thank you very much. Good evening. Laura and
I are really pleased to be back in Singapore, and I appreciate the
chance to come and speak to you at this fine university. I thank the
Government, the people of Singapore for such gracious hospitality. I'm
particularly pleased that my friend the Senior Minister Goh and his wife are with us today.
Mr. Minister, thank you for joining us.
I also had a very fine meeting with Prime Minister Lee earlier. I've come to know him as a wise man. I
appreciate his good counsel. He's a friend and a partner, and he's a
strong voice for peace and prosperity in Asia.
Our roots, America's roots in Singapore are deep and enduring. I
don't know if you know this or not, but our first counsel to Singapore
arrived in the 1830s to promote American trade in this region. His wife
was the daughter of one of America's most famous patriots, Paul Revere.
She came to love the city, and she came to love its people. And to show
that love, she donated a bell that was cast by the Revere Foundry to the
old St. Andrew's Church. The Revere bell is now in the National Museum
of Singapore, and it is a symbol of the long affection between the
people of our two nations.
The story of Singapore is a story of people who overcame challenges
and transformed a small port city into one of the most prosperous
nations on Earth. Many of you have parents or grandparents who remember
riding ox carts, and now fly across the oceans from one the world's most
modern airports. Some learned four national anthems over their lifetime:
Britain's, Japan's, Malaysia's, and finally, Singapore's. Others recall
Singapore's early days and the pessimists who predicted that a small
country with no natural resources was doomed to fail.
By your effort and enterprise, you have proven the pessimists wrong.
And today, Singapore has one of the most vibrant economies in the entire
world. In many ways, Singapore's transformation from a small trading
outpost to a confident and prosperous leader is the story of Asia. Like
Singapore, this region was mired in poverty after the Second World War.
Like Singapore, the region had to overcome challenges that included war
and occupation and colonialism. Like Singapore, the region faced threats
from movements that sought to destabilize governments and impose their
ideology on others. And like Singapore, the region has overcome these
challenges, and the Asia we see today is the fastest growing and most
dynamic region in the world.
The United States has long recognized that it is in our interests to
help expand hope and opportunity throughout Asia. And our policies have
reflected this commitment for more than six decades. By opening our
doors to Asian goods, America has ensured
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that Asian workers and businesses and entrepreneurs would have access to
the world's largest economy. By maintaining a strong military presence
in the region, America has helped provide stability. And with these
actions, America has helped contribute to the modern and confident Asia
we see today, a region where people's incomes and opportunities are
rising, where businesses compete in the global economy, and where
citizens know that a world growing in trade is a world expanding in
opportunity.
In this new century, America will remain engaged in Asia because our
interests depend on the expansion of freedom and opportunity in this
region. In this new century, our trade across the Pacific is greater
than our trade across the Atlantic, and American businesses see a bright
future in your thriving economies and rising middle class.
In this new century, we see threats like terrorism and proliferation
and disease that have the potential to undermine our prosperity and put
our futures in doubt. Amid these challenges, we hear voices calling for
us to retreat from the world and close our doors to its opportunities.
These are the old temptations of isolationism and protectionism, and
America must reject them. We must maintain our presence in the Pacific.
We must seize on our common opportunities. We must be willing to
confront our common threats. And we must help our partners build more
hopeful societies throughout this vital part of the world.
Building more hopeful societies starts with opening up to the
opportunities of a global trading system. By opening up to trade,
countries attract foreign investment they need to provide jobs and
opportunities for their people. By opening up to trade, countries help
attract the know-how that will enable them to compete in a global
marketplace. And by opening up to trade, countries build wealth and
empower their citizens.
The United States has long been committed to a global trading system
that is free and that is fair. And so is Singapore. Singapore was the
host of the first meeting of the World Trade Organization in 1996, where
we announced an important new agreement on information technology goods.
A decade later, America and Singapore are again close partners working
toward a common purpose: a breakthrough in the Doha negotiations. Only
an ambitious Doha agreement with real market access can achieve the
economic growth and development goals that this world has set, and we
look to nations across the Asia-Pacific region to help put these vital
talks back on track.
To help build momentum for more open global trade, we're also
opening up markets with individual nations. On this side of the Pacific,
America has negotiated free trade agreements with Singapore and
Australia, and we're negotiating similar agreements with Malaysia and
South Korea. On the other side of the Pacific, we have successful free
trade agreements with Canada and Mexico and Chile, and we've concluded
negotiations with Peru. America believes in free and fair trade, and we
will continue to open up new avenues to commerce and investment across
this region.
Tomorrow I'm going to travel to Vietnam for the annual summit of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum. APEC has a vital role to play
in promoting more open trading. In 1994, in Bogor, Indonesia, APEC
reached an historic agreement to liberalize trade and investment
throughout the region by 2020, and the United States strongly supports
this goal. Recently some APEC members have advanced the idea of a free
trade agreement for the entire APEC region. I believe this idea deserves
serious consideration. The United States believes that APEC is the
premier economic forum in the region. We believe APEC has immense
potential to expand free trade and opportunity across the Pacific, and
we will do our part to help APEC
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become a stronger organization that serves as an engine for economic
growth and opportunity throughout the region.
The remarkable economic growth that this region has achieved points
to a clear lesson: The expansion of trade is the most certain path to
lasting prosperity. America will continue to pursue trade at every level
with individual countries, across all regions, and through the WTO. We
will work to remove barriers to trade and investment, and by doing so,
we will help reduce poverty and promote stability. And we will give
citizens on both sides of the Pacific a brighter future.
Building more hopeful societies means working together to confront
the challenges that face the entire region. Open markets and the
entrepreneurial spirit have set off historic economic booms in Asia.
This economic growth creates new opportunities, and yet we've got to
recognize it creates new challenges. We must find the energy to power
our growing economies. We must counter the risk of pandemic disease. And
we must bring more people into the circle of development and prosperity.
Meeting these challenges will require the effort of every nation, and
you can count on the commitment of the United States.
As the economies of the Asia-Pacific thrive and expand, one of our
most pressing needs will be an affordable, reliable supply of energy.
Four of the world's top five energy consumers are APEC members, and the
region's need for energy is going to continue to rise. The answer to
this challenge is familiar in Asia: Harness the power of technology.
Together, we must unleash the same spirit of innovation and enterprise
that sparked the Asian economic revolution to spark a new revolution in
new energy technologies.
America knows the importance of developing new energy sources
because we are too dependent on a single source, and that is oil. So
we're investing aggressively in clean coal technology, renewable fuels
like ethanol and biodiesel, and hydrogen fuel cells. Since 2001, we've
spent nearly $10 billion on clean energy technologies, and we're going
to invest even more in the years to come. Across this region, we're
cooperating with friends and allies to share our discoveries. We are
learning from your experiences, and we're going to work together to
improve new energy technologies It's in our mutual interest to do so.
This cooperation includes several key initiatives that hold the
promise of a cleaner and more energy-efficient world. Through the Asia-
Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, the United States
is working with Australia and China and India and Japan and South Korea
to share best practices and deploy new energy technologies. Last month,
our partnership announced nearly 100 new projects, ranging from clean
coal to renewable energy to more efficient buildings. These new
technologies are helping us to improve our energy security and, as
importantly, are helping to improve air quality by cutting greenhouse
gas emissions.
Through the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, America is working
with other leaders in nuclear energy, like Russia and France and Japan,
to help developing nations use civilian nuclear energy, while guarding
against weapons proliferation. And through the APEC Biofuels Task Force,
we're working with nations across the region to search for new ways to
replace oil with clean fuels made from palm oil and sugar cane and other
natural products.
My hope is that the investments that we make today will enable you
to drive different kind of automobiles and to heat your homes and air-
condition your homes using different sources of energy. It's in the
world's interest that we work together to end our addiction from oil.
Keeping our economies growing also requires protecting the health of
our people. Four years ago, we saw the SARS virus inflict terrible
damage on Asian-Pacific economies, a virus that claimed the lives of
hundreds of people all across the world.
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Now this region faces a new threat of avian flu, and we're working
together to address that threat. Vietnam was recently among the nations
hardest hit by avian flu. Then Vietnam's leaders started to share
information with the international community and improve monitoring and
public awareness and take the difficult step of culling birds that might
be infected. Vietnam's decisive actions have paid off. When I arrive in
Hanoi for the APEC summit tomorrow, the country will have gone more than
a year without a human case of avian flu. Our strategy is beginning to
work.
At our summit, leaders will reaffirm our mutual responsibilities to
report new avian flu cases, to contain the spread of animal outbreaks,
and to follow wise preparedness plans. We've taken the important steps
to stop the spread of avian flu, but we must continue to increase
cooperation to ensure that if the pandemic ever does break out, the
world will be ready to deal with it.
America has committed over $15 billion to fight the spread of HIV/
AIDS across the world. Today, Vietnam has an estimated 280,000 citizens
who suffer from this deadly virus, and many more who are in danger of
becoming infected. Through our Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, we're
working with Vietnam to do something about it. We've launched an
ambitious 5-year program to help Vietnam meet three clear goals: to
support treatment for 22,000 people, to support care for 110,000 people,
and to support testing and prevention for 660,000 people.
Since 2004, we've provided more than $138 million for this plan.
We've helped bring relief to thousands of Vietnamese. It is in our
interest to help defeat the spread of HIV/AIDS. This is a global
challenge that grows daily and must be confronted directly. And I look
forward to working with our Asian partners to do our duty to defeat this
disease.
Our partners also know they can count on the United States when a
disaster strikes suddenly. After the tsunami struck in 2004, we quickly
dispatched military assistance and humanitarian relief to save lives and
help devastated communities rebuild. By coming to the aid of people in
dire need, America showed the good heart of our citizens and the depth
of our friendship in this region.
Our commitments extend far beyond responding to disaster, and they
must if we expect this world to be peaceful and prosperous. We're
helping countries like the Philippines and Indonesia to provide their
children an education that prepares them to succeed in the global
economy. My administration started a new and bold foreign policy--
foreign aid initiative called the Millennium Challenge Account. The
United States will provide financial assistance to developing nations
that govern justly--in other words, fight corruption--that invest in
their people and enforce the rule of law. We've signed a Millennium
Challenge threshold agreement with the Philippines. We will soon begin
discussions with Peru. And tomorrow we will sign an agreement with
Indonesia. By providing governments that are committed to reform vital
aid, we will help bring this region closer to a day when the benefits of
economic growth and prosperity reach every citizen.
America has a clear approach to the challenges of the Asia-Pacific
region. We believe that alleviating poverty and fighting disease and
harnessing the benefits of technology require partnership, not
paternalism. And the United States makes this pledge: Every nation that
works to advance prosperity, health, and opportunity for all its people
will find a ready partner in the United States.
Building more hopeful societies depends on a foundation of security.
At the start of this young century, the nations of the Asia-Pacific
region face a profound challenge: The same technology and global
openness that have transformed our lives also threaten our lives. The
same innovations that make it easier to build cars and computers make it
easier to build weapons
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of mass destruction. The same advances in international transportation
and finance that allow a manufacturer in Singapore to sell electronics
to a store in San Francisco would also allow a proliferating regime in
the Far East to sell dangerous technologies to a terrorist organization
in the Middle East.
The danger is unmistakable. In an age of unprecedented technological
advances, irresponsible behavior by a few can have catastrophic
consequences for the entire world. The people of this region understand
the threat that the world faces because they have been the targets of
terrorist violence. The terrorists have attacked a nightclub in Bali, a
hotel in Jakarta, a ferry packed with passengers in Manila Bay, a school
full of children in Russia, Australia's Embassy in Indonesia, and other
targets.
The killers who committed these acts of terror are more than
criminals; they are followers of a clear and focused ideology that hates
freedom and rejects tolerance and despises all dissent. Their stated
goal is to establish a totalitarian Islamic empire stretching from
Europe to Southeast Asia. The greatest danger in our world today is that
these terrorists could get their hands on weapons of mass destruction
and use them to blackmail free nations or to kill on an unimaginable
scale. This threat poses a risk to our entire civilization, and all our
nations must work together to defeat it.
In this region, the most immediate threat of proliferation comes
from North Korea. America's position is clear: The transfer of nuclear
weapons or materiel by North Korea to states or non-state entities would
be considered a grave threat to the United States, and we would hold
North Korea fully accountable for the consequences of such action. For
the sake of peace, it is vital that the nations of this region send a
message to North Korea that the proliferation of nuclear technology to
hostile regimes or terrorist networks will not be tolerated.
After North Korea's recent nuclear test, the United Nations Security
Council passed a unanimous resolution making it clear that the regime's
pursuit of nuclear weapons is unacceptable. The resolution imposes
sanctions on North Korea's regime, and America will work with our
partners to enforce those sanctions. We'll also continue working with
Japan and China and South Korea and Russia through the six-party talks.
Our nations are speaking with one voice: The only way for North Korea to
move forward, for the good of their people, is to abandon its nuclear
weapons programs and rejoin the international community.
North Korea recently took an encouraging step when it agreed to come
back to the table and restart the six-party talks. The United States
wants these talks to be successful, and we will do our part. If North
Korea chooses a peaceful path, America and our partners in the six-party
talks are prepared to provide security assurances, economic assistance,
and other benefits to the North Korean people.
Ultimately, the success of these talks depends on the regime in
North Korea. Pyongyang must show it is serious by taking concrete steps
to implement its agreement to give up its nuclear weapons and weapons
programs.
As we work for a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons, we're
also strengthening defense cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
Unlike Europe, where our security cooperation takes place through the
NATO alliance, America's security cooperation in Asia takes place
largely through bilateral defense relations.
America places the highest value on these partnerships. We're
committed to strengthening our existing partnerships and to building new
ones. With Japan, we continue to work closely to field a missile defense
system to protect both our countries and others in the region from rogue
regimes threatening blackmail and/or destruction. With South Korea, we
have upgraded our deterrent capabilities, while reducing
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our footprint and repositioning U.S. troops stationed in the country.
With Australia, we're working to improve joint training of our forces
and increase cooperation in areas such as intelligence and missile
defense research. With the Philippines, we're working to improve the
capabilities of the nation's armed forces to fight terrorism and other
threats. With India, we signed an historic agreement to expand defense
cooperation, increase joint exercises, and improve intelligence sharing.
With Vietnam, our Navy has made four port calls over the past 3 years,
the first visits by U.S. military ships since the Vietnam war. And with
Singapore, we signed a new strategic framework agreement that provides
for joint military exercises and cooperation in military research and
development.
By building new defense relationships and strengthening existing
alliances, we are ensuring that the forces of freedom and moderation in
this region can defend themselves against the forces of terror and
extremism.
In addition to these bilateral defense relationships, America
welcomes the growing multilateral security cooperation in this region.
Today, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia are coordinating
patrols in the Strait of Malaka and working to combat terrorism, piracy,
and human trafficking. Through the Proliferation Security Initiative, 80
countries are cooperating to stop the spread of weapons of mass
destruction and related materiel through air, land, and sea. APEC
members know that advancing trade and opportunity throughout the Pacific
requires safe travel and transport, so we will continue to work together
to improve the security of our ports and airports and transportation
routes.
With all these efforts, the nations of this region are answering the
threats of the 21st century. And in doing so, we are laying the
foundation of security and peace for generations to come. In the long
run, the surest path to security is the expansion of liberty and
freedom. History shows that free societies are peaceful societies.
Democracies do not attack each other. Governments accountable to voters
focus on building roads and schools, not weapons of mass destruction.
Young people who have a say in their future are less likely to search
for meaning in extremism. And nations that commit to freedom for their
people don't support terrorists and extremists but, in fact, will join
together to defeat them.
America is committed to advancing freedom and democracy as the great
alternatives to repression and radicalism. We will take the side of
democratic leaders and reformers. We will support the voices of
tolerance and moderation across the world. We will stand with the
mothers and fathers in every culture who want to see their children grow
up in a caring and peaceful society.
We recognize that every democracy will reflect the unique culture
and history of its people. Yet we recognize that there are universal
freedoms, that there are God-given rights for every man, woman, and
child on the face of this Earth. The people of Asia have faith in the
power of freedom because you've seen freedom transform nations across
your continent.
At the beginning of World War II, this side of the Pacific had only
two democracies: Australia and New Zealand. Today, millions of Asians
live in freedom. Freedom has unleashed the creative talents of people
throughout Asia. Freedom has helped prosperity sweep across the region.
In all that lies ahead, the people of this region will have a
partner in the American Government and a friend in the American people.
Together, the people of America and Asia have endured dark and uncertain
hours. Together, we've seen modern nations rise from the rubble of war
and launch dynamic economies that are the envy of the world. Together,
we will confront the challenges of the new century and build a more
hopeful and peaceful and prosperous future for our children and our
grandchildren.
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I appreciate your hospitality. Thank you for letting me come by and
share some thoughts with you. May God bless the people of Singapore.
Note: The President spoke at 6:04 p.m. in the University Cultural Centre
Theatre. In his remarks, he referred to Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong of
Singapore, and his wife, Tan Choo Leng; and Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong of Singapore.