Security in the Straits
-
Don't raise straits security issues through media, says KL
Foreign Minister says sovereignty of littoral states must be respected before talking about bringing in third party
By Reme Ahmad
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has said it does not want to learn through the media about Singapore's position on security in the Straits of Malacca.
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said that if there was a threat, 'we should sit down and see what is the best way of facing it', but he reiterated Malaysia's objection to American patrols.
While Malaysia and Indonesia are just as interested as Singapore is in beefing up security in the waterway, Kuala Lumpur sees the issue from a different perspective, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid told the New Straits Times in an interview.
'I do not like to create disagreements or disputes with Singapore. But if we continue to fight or highlight our differences in the media, then it can bring the relationship into a lot of difficulties,' he said.
'That is why we have to exercise a lot of restraint when reacting because we think that there must be a bigger picture.'
The interview also touched on relations with neighbouring countries and China, whether Malaysia's foreign policy had changed under Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, as well as Kuala Lumpur's chairmanship of both the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC).
He was asked about Datuk Seri Abdullah's recent visit to China, which he said showed the nation's importance to Malaysia. He pointed out that eq- ual emphasis would be given to India as an economic partner.
The Foreign Minister added foreign policy had not changed since Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed's retirement, and any doubts about Datuk Seri Abdullah's leadership of NAM and the OIC has been erased through the organisation of important meetings this year.
The issue of strengthening security in the Malacca Straits was first brought up in a speech last month by Singapore Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean, who noted that security in the narrow waterway was 'not adequate' as the vessels were natural targets for terrorist groups.
Malaysia has said that while it was concerned, it felt the security issue was overblown as there had been only one reported case of piracy along the straits in the past six months, with no cases of terrorism.
Kuala Lumpur is also concerned about bringing outside military forces into the region, an act which it feared would undermine its sovereignty.
'We are all concerned about a possible threat. So we should all sit down, respecting the sovereignty of the littoral states, before we take a carte blanche approach and say, okay a third party should come in because we cannot do it,' said Datuk Seri Syed Hamid.
'There is a need to respect territorial sovereignty. We do not want to create a new dimension of threats which did not exist before.
'The fact that we invite a third party does not mean you can overcome threats. There may be new forms of threats because of the position of the third party.'
In an obvious reference to Singapore, the minister also said: 'No one single state, no matter how much interest they have, should invite a foreign or third party to secure and safeguard the sea lane without consultation with the littoral states. We do not want to learn of all these things from the media.' -
question:
1) can the indonesian navy and the malaysian navy REALLY cover the security of the straits effectively?
2) is it a position stemming from political concerns or military confidence? seems like the former to me...
3) why keep harping on it? been MONTHS since singapore last brought up the issue.
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/storyprintfriendly/0,1887,253929,00.html -
There is also a political agenda for the US to want to increase their presence in the Straits. If they control the Straits, they can hold China at their mercy.
Sgp is just US's mouth-piece.
For Sgp, we don't have a choice mah, but to ask for continued US military presence to maintain status quo.
Terrorist threats in the Straits might be real but there are a lot of political agenda floating around as well. -
1) A big fat NOOriginally posted by CX:question:
1) can the indonesian navy and the malaysian navy REALLY cover the security of the straits effectively?
2) is it a position stemming from political concerns or military confidence? seems like the former to me...
3) why keep harping on it? been MONTHS since singapore last brought up the issue.
2) Agree, its the former. The fact is, our neighbours have their own ways of doing things. For better or for worse, thats the way it is and we have to live with it, particularly when we need their cooperation and help in matters such as this. I personally groaned when a couple of our ministers brought up this issue in public speeches and indirectly referred to their inaction over this issue because I knew our neighbour's reactions will be; pig-headed stubborness against their better judgement because of their pride. Same reaction when the Americans said the same thing to them a while back. A better solution to try to get them to go along would be to talk to them quietly behind and scenes and (more importantly) leave public criticism, direct and/or indirect, out of public view
We have apparently been taking lessons on international relations from the Bush Administration
3) Actually, it was just about a month ago. But I suspect its to do with the initial criticism as well as the slew of publicity of on Singapore's security measures in it's port.
I'm all for security in the Straits, because I see it as a very vulnerable Achilles heel for the terrorists to strike, and one that is not very difficult to carry out. Al Qaeda has shown more sophistication that what is required. To prevent this from happening, we need our neighbours to cooperate with us, and public criticism is NOT the way to get the help we need.
spencer99 is right, I'd rather the US military and politicians to stay out of this. -
i would still think that the "great white fleet" is a lesser evil than a sampan crammed with bombs speeding towards an oil tanker...
-
Amen to that, which is why understanding the psyche of the Malaysians and Indonesians is so important, since their cooperation is the only way to stop THAT sampan.Originally posted by CX:i would still think that the "great white fleet" is a lesser evil than a sampan crammed with bombs speeding towards an oil tanker... -
http://www.littlespeck.com/content/security/CTrendsSecurity-040602.htm
Going it alone
Watched by UN, US coast guard and Chinese security officials, Singapore carries out maritime security drill by itself. Washington Post
By Ellen Nakashima, Alan Sipress
Jun 2, 2004
Singapore - Clad in jet black from helmet to boots, Singapore coast guard commandos dashed up the gangplank.
Responding to a simulated report of a terrorist bomb planted on the hulking cargo ship, they proceeded in a half-crouch along the starboard deck, peering through the sights of German-made assault rifles.
As sirens on the adjacent wharf wailed, dozens of other uniformed Singaporeans joined the practice on-ship hunt: blue-bereted special operations police, soldiers in green camouflage with a sniffer cocker spaniel and the bomb disposal squad from the navy's diving unit.
This was Singapore's first effort at a joint response by its security forces to a potential terrorist attack off the world's second-busiest port.
But the exercise, staged one morning last month, also pointed up the limited ability of countries in the region to cooperate in countering the maritime threat.
Despite the urging of security experts that the island city-state and its neighbours work together more closely against terror threats in the waters of Southeast Asia, this was exclusively a Singaporean affair.
Officials from the United Nations, the US Coast Guard and China's maritime security agency attended, but only as observers.
Much of the concern focuses on the Strait of Malacca, a vital marine artery for more than one-quarter of the world's trade and half its oil, including most of the fuel bound for Japan, China and South Korea.
Adm Thomas B. Fargo, commander of US Pacific Command, proposed an initiative this spring to enhance intelligence-sharing with Asian governments and to coordinate the interdiction of terrorists at sea.
"This collective effort will empower each participating nation with the timely information and capabilities it needs to act against maritime threats in its own territorial seas," Fargo said in a speech last month.
But the response has been uneven.
Efforts to build a regional approach are hampered by national rivalries, equipment shortages and an acute sensitivity, particularly by Malaysia and Indonesia, about maintaining control of their territorial waters.
When Fargo told a US House committee in March that he was considering putting US Marines aboard high-speed vessels to capture terrorists in the Malacca Strait, officials from Malaysia and Indonesia, whose countries border the waterway, balked.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said terrorist threats were exaggerated and warned against unilateral US action in Malaysian waters.
US diplomats have continued to lobby for a more muscular approach, while trying to reassure Southeast Asian leaders that Fargo's initiative is not a ruse to deploy US forces in the sea lanes.
US Assistant Secretary of State James A. Kelly pressed the issue at a regional security forum in Indonesia last month, while Gen. Michael Hagee, commandant of the US Marine Corps, made his first trip to Singapore a week earlier for similar discussions.
Singapore, a close US ally with a modern economy that is dependent on international trade, got on board early.
Previously targeted by a militant underground group linked to al Qaeda, Singapore is one of the first maritime nations to comply with new UN rules to protect ports against terrorism, which include periodic exercises.
At 9:03 the morning of last month's drill, an alert sounded on the APL Japan, a Singaporean cargo ship with metal containers stacked four high on deck.
"Secure all areas! Stop cargo operations! Go now!" barked Chief Officer Cheong Kwee Thiam, gesturing to the crew. The men, in white jumpsuits, fanned out along the vessel, as long as three football fields.
At 9:30 am, Cheong's two-way radio carried a new alert. A bomb was hidden somewhere on board.
As sirens screamed, the commandos streamed aboard. The police found the mock explosive in a cardboard juice carton in a bin in a cargo bay.
The bomb squad was summoned, and an explosive ordnance disposal specialist squeezed the trigger on a device that shot a high-powered jet of water into the simulated bomb to disable it.
About 20 minutes later, the action shifted to portside as a small boat suddenly appeared from behind a neighboring wharf and raced toward the APL Japan. In the exercise, it was a possible suicide bomber intent on ramming the vessel.
Two port authority patrol boats darted in from two directions to head off the intruder. A Coast Guard patrol boat sped to the scene moments later, followed by a navy vessel.
This simulated strike was loosely modeled on an attack in October 2000, when al Qaeda operatives in Aden, Yemen, plowed a dinghy laden with explosives into the USS Cole, killing 17 US sailors.
Although Singapore has not had a similar bombing, radicals linked to al Qaeda have planned several attacks around the island nation, according to US and Singaporean officials.
In 2001, Singaporean investigators discovered that the regional terror organisation Jemaah Islamiah was studying the viability of a seaborne suicide attack against US naval vessels in the Johore Strait off Singapore's northern coast.
Authorities searching a Jemaah Islamiah operative's house found a map of the island with "significant markings," according to Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng.
These included a kill zone where the channel is narrowest, leaving a ship no room to avoid colliding with a suicide vessel. The plan also provided for taking advantage of inlets to hide the attack vessel from radar, Wong said in an e-mail reply to questions.
Further suspicions about terrorist plots were raised when US intelligence agents in Afghanistan recovered surveillance tapes from an al Qaeda safe house that showed Malaysian navy ships on patrol in the Malacca Strait.
Jemaah Islamiah has also filmed wharves, the Changi Naval Base and warships in the area, Wong said.
Wong stressed that the high incidence of piracy attacks in the region compounds the problem. "If such acts of piracy can occur, so too can acts of shipjack or terrorism," he said. "Operationally, the line between these acts is thin."
The private International Maritime Bureau reported that of 445 piracy attacks recorded worldwide last year, more than one-quarter were in Indonesian waters. Indonesia also logged the highest number of attacks, 21, during the first three months of this year.
Wong warned of the possibility that a fuel tanker might be hijacked and turned into a floating bomb to attack ports or other ships.
An attack that blocked the Malacca Strait, a 500-mile channel running between the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the Malaysian peninsula to Singapore, would badly hurt world trade, forcing vessels to make long detours and substantially boosting shipping costs.
Before Fargo began promoting his regional approach, the US government launched a worldwide security initiative for shipping containers, which calls for US Customs officers to work with local inspectors to screen out nuclear, chemical and biological weapons in cargo bound for American ports.
The United States also has begun a proliferation security initiative to intercept weapons of mass destruction smuggled by land, sea or air.
By July, ships and commercial ports must meet new maritime security rules set by the UN International Maritime Organisation.
Less than 6 percent of ports worldwide and 10 percent of ships now comply with the rules, according to IMO Secretary General Efthimios Mitropoulos. Singapore was among the first to meet the requirements.
The new rules also require all 46,000 ships involved in international trade to have a security alert system that could send a distress signal to the nearest on-shore location without alerting hijackers.
But Michael Richardson, visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies here, said that savvy terrorists might know where the buttons are located and take preventive action.
After the Sept 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, Singapore adopted several measures to improve port security. They require that oil tankers and other vessels at risk give 24-hour notice of their arrival and follow designated routes.
Their movements are tracked by high-tech identification systems. Sensitive locations, such as petrochemical facilities, are now off-limits to most vessels.
But other Southeast Asian countries, notably Indonesia, lack the resources to adopt such safeguards.
Indonesia has only 117 naval vessels, from patrol boats to warships, to protect the waters off its 17,500 islands, said Chief Adm. Bernard Kent Sondakh. And only 30 percent of the vessels are seaworthy, he said.
Washington Post -
Seriously speaking, I don't think that Malaysia and Indonesia will accede to the idea of the US Navy being invited in to patrol the Straits of Malacca no matter in what manner they are asked. The reasons for this is pretty simple. With the addition of the US in patrolling the straits, it will mean an additional player in the already complex regional diplomacy. Let's just think of it, where is the US navy likely to choose its base? Malaysia? Indonesia? That would be a political suicide for the government of both countries. Furthermore, Singapore is the closest ally that the US has in the region, with facilities designed with the US in mind. Example of the additional player theory? Just visualize this, the US navy bases itself permanently in Singapore as part of the strengthening of straits security. KL in its typical election rhetorics announces that it is cutting off Singapore's water supply. Oops, the US navy is now cut off from access to fresh water too! What is its response? What is the US response? This is just one of the scenario that could possibly accompany a US permanent entry into the region.
Another thing is that with US entry, Singapore itself will gain added access to US technology and information, especially so if the US is to build a radar facility to monitor the straits movement. Operated by the US, it is not inconceivable for the US to share its information with Singapore, which is definitely detrimental to the interests of both Malaysia and Indonesia. -
Our neighbours.. What else can you expect? When Singapore broke up JI in 2001, it asked Indonesia to arrest the JI members on its territory but Indonesia refused to even acknowledge the existence of JI till the Bali bombing. Same thing here. They'll only take action when an attack occurs and it's too late. Confirm plus guarantee plus chop.
They also kow peh us why we use the media to highlight the issue. If we use behind-the-scenes channels to talk to them, they'll bother to respond meh? Everytime say we not sensitive. But they themself got problem and that's a bo chup attitude. Cannot make it. -
wait till something happens?!!!
wah lau... will there be anything left to save after that?
an oil tanker scuttled in the straits will impede shipping for weeks at least... not to mention the "damage to marine life" that they love to bring up every time we reclaim land...
stubborn pharkers... -
Score one more for "Albar-isms"Originally posted by CX:wait till something happens?!!!
wah lau... will there be anything left to save after that?
an oil tanker scuttled in the straits will impede shipping for weeks at least... not to mention the "damage to marine life" that they love to bring up every time we reclaim land...
stubborn pharkers...
If people like to cut off their noses to spite their faces, what are we to do? I just wish they'd do it on their own time and not on issues that affect us