Joe Biden thanks Singapore’s Lee Hsien Loong for lone ASEAN stand

The city state last month imposed financial and trade sanctions on Moscow and banned certain goods from being exported to Russia.

Lee Hsien Loong and Joe Biden in their White House meeting on Wednesday alluded to fears that China could use the Ukraine crisis to consolidate regional territorial gains. Picture: AFP

Joe Biden has singled out Singapore’s lone stand against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine among Southeast Asia nations, pointedly thanking the city state for imposing sanctions on Moscow during a visit by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong this week that had been slated for a US-ASEAN summit.

“I want to thank you Mr Prime Minister for Singapore’s principled leadership in supporting the people of Ukraine. I know it’s not easy. You’re a man of principle and you’ve stepped up every time you had to,” the US President said ahead of a meeting with Mr Lee in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

Singapore last month imposed financial and trade sanctions on Moscow and banned certain goods from being exported to Russia, citing Russia’s “unacceptable” invasion of a smaller sovereign nation, while its fellow ASEAN states have refused to do.

Some, such as Indonesia, have even begun looking at buying cheap Russian oil to help shield their pandemic-hit economies from spiralling energy prices.

The US and Singaporean leaders strongly condemned the attack by Russia on Ukraine at a joint news conference after their meeting in which Mr Biden declared the two security partners “united in sending a message to all nations – regardless of size or population, they are equal in their rights on the global stage”.

“They have a right to sovereignty and territorial integrity and to determine their own future, free from violence and intimidation.”

Mr Biden said the two had discussed other regional concerns including North Korea’s recent intercontinental ballistic missile tests, and the need for the Myanmar military junta – which seized power in a coup last year – to allow the country to return to democracy.

Both leaders also alluded to fears China could use the Ukraine crisis to consolidate regional territorial gains, with Mr Biden emphasising the need to ensure “all nations, including China, uphold the principles that enable a free and open regime” – a reference to Beijing’s disputed claim to most of the South China Sea.

Mr Lee said the Ukraine crisis had implications for the Asia-­Pacific, and warned of “potential flashpoints and contentious issues in our region too, which if not managed well, could escalate to open conflict”.

“Countries with interests in the regions need to pursue all efforts to settle disagreements through peaceful means, so that we can avoid reaching the point of no return,” he said, urging the US to build closer relations with China as well as its regional neighbours.

Mr Lee also welcomed the Biden administration’s proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, highlighting the “importance of the US growing both its strategic and economic stakes” in the region following former president Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Mr Biden had invited all nine ASEAN leaders to come to Washington this week but the special US-ASEAN summit was deferred after several cited clashing schedules, raising suspicions they were keen to avoid pressure from the US President to join the sanctions bloc against Russia.

Despite the snub, Mr Biden reaffirmed America’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific on Wednesday, as well as closer engagement with ASEAN. “Even as we address the crisis in Europe, my administration is strongly supportive of moving rapidly to implement the Indo-Pacific strategy,” he said.

ASEAN has been careful not to take sides in the Ukraine crisis, and issued a weak statement earlier this month expressing deep concern over “armed hostilities in Ukraine” without naming Moscow as the aggressor.

While all ASEAN states except Laos and Vietnam supported this month’s UN General Assembly resolution deploring Russia’s invasion, Jakarta’s state oil and gas company Pertamina this week flagged its intention to join India and China in capitalising on western sanctions to buy cheaper Russian oil. Pertamina chief executive Nicke Widyawati told a parliamentary trade committee the company was discussing its plans with the foreign ministry and that “amid this geopolitical situation, we see an opportunity to buy oil from Russia at a good price”.