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1
6
SNOW/NIX
SING.TS
DRAFT THREE
December 27, 1991
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: THE SINGAPORE LECTURE
stamfordnce
SINGAPORE WESTIN HOTEL
JANUARY 7, 1991 4,1991
12/23
Tong
1 P.M. 12:15
Prime Minister Goh, Senior Minister Lee, thank you for that
very kind introduction. It's an honor to deliver this lecture,
following such distinguished thinkers as Henry Kissinger and
Strgapore
Milton Friedman and such accomplished leaders as Brian Mulroney,
Deries
Helmut Schmidt, Rudd Lubbers, Bob Hawke, Mahathir bin Mohamad and
Books provided
Valery Giscard D'Estaing. [additional acknowledgments]
The addresses in this series reflect the changes in our
Embass by
world. Your first lecturers focused on the ideological and
Keng Yong
military struggle between socialism and democratic capitalism --
and especially between the United States and what we used to call
Ong
the Soviet Union.
Think of that phrase for a moment -- "what we used to call
bulled
25 NEXIS
Decise
the Soviet Union.' When citizens pulled down the hammer and
sickle last week, and hauled up a new tricolor of freedom over
NyTimes
the Kremlin, the Soviet Union ceased to exist -- and the prospect
Decreas
of a new world blossomed before us.
Sect,2
That act culminated a decade of liberation -- a time in
which we witnessed the death throes of totalitarianism, and the
triumph of systems of government devoted to individual liberty,
democratic pluralism, free markets and international engagement.
2
As this struggle has drawn to a close, these lectures have
shifted their focus from military confrontation to matters of
economic cooperation.
Today, we stand at the dawn of a new era in international
relations -- an era filled with its own dangers and challenges,
but bright with possibilities the likes of which we never have
seen.
This world has little use for our old ways of thinking about
the roles and relations of nation-states. The old categories --
North-South, East-West, capitalist-communist -- no longer apply.
We define national power more in terms of economic and
intellectual prowess than in terms of sheer military might. The
future belongs not necessarily to the nations with the greatest
armies, as to nations that can remain on the cutting edge of
innovation and information; nations that can develop the genius
and harness the ambitions of their people.
Individuals wield power as never before. An innovator
equipped with ideas and the freedom to turn them into inventions
can change the way we live and think. Governments that strive
only to maintain a monopoly on force, rather than to strengthen
the freedom and power of the individual, will fall by the
wayside, swept away by entrepreneurial and intellectual tides.
Liberation technologies -- telephones, computers, satellite
dishes and other devices that transmit news, information and
culture in ever greater volumes and at ever greater speeds --
have disabled the old weapons of tyranny.
Jahany
3
The old world of splintered regions and ideologies has begun
to give way to a global village universally committed to the
values of individual liberty, democracy, free trade, and
universally opposed to aggression and tyranny.
This world poses three intertwined challenges: the challenge
of peace and security, the challenge of democracy, and the
challenge of market freedom.
Consider first the challenge of peace and security.
The world has learned -- through two world wars, and most
recently, through Saddam Hussein's naked aggression -- that
isolationism invites provocation and war.
As a nation that straddles two great oceans, the United
SEXIS
States remains committed to engagement in the Atlantic Community
Booton
and the Asia Pacific region -- and unalterably opposed to
Globes
isolationism.
USA
Engagement serves the interests of long-term peace. More
gimith
than 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam. Tens of thousands of bear
NEXIS
physical and psychological scars for their service. Although
doubters of the age tried to demean their sacrifice, you
understood their achievements. I know that many in Singapore
argue that our engagement in Vietnam granted this nation a
quarter century's head-start on its future.
Defense DecBelden Atmanae
191
A quarter century ago, we feared that free nations would
fall like dominoes. Now, we can say with satisfaction, relief
58,056
and a robust sense of irony that the totalitarian powers, the
4
powers that fomented war all over the globe, have become the
dominoes of the 1990s.
This end to the Cold War gives the United States an
opportunity to restructure its military. The closing of bases in
Reuters
the Philippines will not spell the end to American engagement.
We will maintain a visible, credible presence in the Asia-Pacific
Subto
region with our forward deployed forces, and through bilateral
Bayn
defense arrangements with nations of the region.
clark
We don't maintain this presence out of charity. Your
security and prosperity serve our interests, not simply because
you share our basic ideals, not just because your market beckons,
not just because you command one of the most strategic waterways
on earth. Your wealth and health serve our interests. They will
help us build a world in which nations take full advantage of the
productivity, genius and ambitions of other nations.
An unstable Asia doesn't help us. An unfree Asia doesn't
help us. A poverty stricken Asia doesn't help us. We need you
as free and productive as you can be, and we understand that our
security presence can provide a foundation for our mutual
prosperity.
But we also need your support in devising arrangements that
suit our mutual interests. I'm happy that the ASEAN nations have
helped us craft new and flexible methods for protecting America's
security interests. Access agreements and ASEAN-US dialog about
issues of mutual concern can help us work in harmony to promote
stability in this region.
Bchanges
5
Strong, credible security agreements enable us to meet the
second challenge, the challenge of democracy -- a challenge of
shared interests and ideals.
Again, ASEAN has played a crucial role in spreading
democracy, in ways that reflect the values, aspirations, and
cultures of the nations in this region. ASEAN has worked hard to
drag Burma away from the dark shadows of dictatorial tyranny; it
has helped former communist states in Indochina to join a new
order for the ages. I am happy to say that those efforts already
have produced hopeful results. November Nov.ll
Robert
Last month Last October
Just a few weeks ago American diplomats arrived in Phnom
NEXIS
wang of
October
Penh for the first time in 16 years. We owe that breakthrough to
many of the nations represented here today.
647-313
stote
j3,
By the same token, the Cambodian peace accord signed by
ABCOK
Secretary Baker in Paris last October would not have existed
without the help and cooperation of ASEAN. This historic
agreement offers the very real hope of peace and freedom to the
long-suffering people of Cambodia.
We have normalized our ties with Laos and have begun
discussing The proces
of
normalizing relations with Vietnam. With your help, we hope to
resolve our remaining concerns with Vietnam -- the full
implementation of the Paris Accords, and for the sake of many,
many American families, the satisfactory resolution of our
concerns about POW/MIAs.
The key point is this: We finally can entertain realistic
hopes of building lasting ties of interest and affection with
Thang
6
Indochina. Organizations such as ASEAN, which promote security,
democracy and open markets, form the building blocks for what I
have called the New World Order.
This victory for democracy leads us to the third challenge
for the future, the challenge of building a world of open and
fair trade.
Everyone agrees that political and military isolationism
threaten to destabilize the world. But no one should doubt that
economic isolationism -- protectionism -- can be at least as
devastating.
The protectionist wars of the 1920s and 1930s deepened the
Great Depression, and set in motion conflicts that hastened the
Second World War. The collapse of the international economic
system enabled demagogues to sell the poisons of socialism and
state control -- and to enslave whole nations for decades.
During the past half century, on the other hand, engagement
and trade have produced unprecedented peace and prosperity --
here, in Singapore; throughout free Asia; in Europe and the
United States. This prosperity also has led naturally to
China Bask
Okper
democracy -- a fact that illustrates the indivisible relationship
State
between security, democracy and individual liberty.
647- 6300
Consider the recent history of China. Econmomic reforms in
Ferial
1978 set off a decade of rapid economic growth -- with average
annual growth rates of ten percent. This prosperity also
Dept of
saeed
fostered hopes of democracy -- hopes that were crushed brutally
State
a
in Tienanmen Square. Since that horrifying moment, Chinese
7
democrcy has suffered -- and so has the Chinese economy. This is
only natural. People who fear for their futures aren't likely to
engage in the kinds of activities -- hard work, savings,
education, planning -- that keep an economy and a society moving.
In any event, the United States will remain engaged
economically, especially in this part of the world. The Asian-
Pacific region has become the world's economic dynamo. The
economies here continue to grow at an astonishing rate, while
enjoying impressive income equality and general prosperity. You
have lifted yourselves up. Through hard work and dedication, you
have transformed this region. Today, the United States conducts
more trade with the Asian-Pacific region than with Europe.
Our trade with Singapore has increased tenfold during the
FAX
past 16 years. We exported more to Singapore last year than to
$395
3512
Switz Israil Greece 1910
In
Italy or Spain; more to Indonesia than to the whole of Eastern
1.1E.Eug
Europ
Anderson X6813
Europe. And our trade with ASEAN nations now approaches our
46.1
total trade volume with Germany.
47 ther
The ASEAN countries, along with other nations in the region,
Nov
initiated the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation process two years
1989
ago. APEC offers a powerful vehicle for sustaining free, market-
based trade, for advancing the cause of regional and global trade
liberalization, and for strengthening the cohesion and
interdependence of the Asia-Pacific region.
This is important to us. Most of America's recent economic
Commerce
growth has come from export industries. Each billion dollars'
worth of merchandise exports can support more than 19,000 good
Johanny
8
American jobs. Each billion dollars worth of agricultural
exports can support more than 25,000 jobs.
A delegation of major American businesses -- from the
automobile industry to computer and electronics firms -- has
joined me in order to express our national commitment to free and
open trade. Our executives will learn more about trade
opportunities here, and they will also work to help our companies
compete fairly throughout the world.
But we should not think of economic development too
narrowly. An economy is nothing more than the collected work,
ingenuity and optimism of a nation. The term "economy,"
encompasses what millions of people do with their lives.
Therefore, when we talk of strengthening economies, we mean much
more than signing trade pacts. We mean building better lives for
everyone through policies that make us more competitive in the
international marketplace.
Americans understand that no nation will prosper long
without a first-rate educational system. In recent years, our
primary and secondary educational system has not kept pace with
the world. I have encouraged Americans to mount a revolution in
401
education, which we call the America 2000 Education Strategy.
1220
America 2000 challenges citizens to set high standards for their
schools, and it encourages all Americans to join forces in
creating world-class schools. Meanwhile, we will continue to
strengthen our university system, the world's finest -- and the
22
host today to 205,000 students from Asia.
Kink winters
close to 230,000
401-3078
229/830/Hute of
per Higher Alired Julian
Alfred Julian
9
Once we have given students basic skills, we must give them
the freedom to make the most of the knowledge they have acquired.
Tax cuts and deregulation in the 1980s unleashed the greatest
peacetime economic recovery in American history. I have tried to
build on that record by seeking a dramatic reduction in capital
gains taxes. After all, most of our competitors impose very low
taxes on capital gains. Some, like Singapore, don't tax capital
gains at all. We must create a climate conducive to risk, to
innovation, to the bold exploration of new technologies and ideas
-- and we will.
The nations of the world want to enjoy the blessings of
growth without destroying our environment. Yet we must struggle
to protect that environment without denying poorer nations the
opportunity to develop as they wish. We must understand that
regulations designed to protect the environment sometimes can
strangle economies and hamper our efforts to develop technologies
that would make our habitat even cleaner.
Politicians sometimes flatter themselves by pretending that
they can regulate troublesome problems out of existence. Too
often, however, those well-meaning efforts merely stall progress
toward real and lasting solutions. Together, we all must work to
discover the boundaries of prudent regulation -- and the best way
to cultivate new jobs, new development, new economic growth.
Above all, I believe in open and fair trade. Nations can
achieve astonishing levels of prosperity when they submit
themselves to the bracing competition of the marketplace. While
10
many countries maintain trade barriers for cultural or political
reasons, those barriers make no more sense than the wall that
once divided the city of Berlin.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade will play a
crucial role in expanding freedom's frontiers. A successful
conclusion to the Uruguay Round can prepare the way for even
greater trade liberalization in years to come -- and greater
prosperity for everyone.
GATT ensures that the world will continue moving toward
broad economic integration -- and not toward trade blocs. We in
the United States have no desire to break into trade factions.
There's a huge difference between a free trade zone -- an oasis
of free trade -- and a trade bloc that attempts to hold the rest
of the world at bay. We resolutely oppose efforts to create
economic "fortresses" -- anywhere.
On the other hand, we wholeheartedly endorse free-trade
agreements. Our North American Free Trade Agreement will beckon
all nations to make the best of the resources and opportunities
that the United States, Canada and Mexico have to offer. And we
e
support efforts to build free trade agreements elswhere.
Consider your own experience. A regime of free trade has
enabled Singapore to become one of the Four Tigers of Asia, and
one of the fastest developing nations on earth. When other
nations' economies falter, you suffer. The worldwide economic
slowdown has slowed your rate of economic growth this year --
although most nations would be overjoyed to settle for six-
11
percent growth. Singapore has one of the most open economies on
earth, and I appreciate Singapore's leadership in pressing for
even greater market freedom around the world.
Together, nations committed to democracy and free markets
have brought the world to the brink of a new era, one that
promises unprecedented freedom from violence and deprivation.
But we can achieve that future only if we work together to create
it. This world will not simply happen: It will require hard
work, tough negotiation, sacrifice, and the courage of our
convictions.
en
Yet if we cast our lot with the forces of enlightment over
the counsels of defeatism and ignorance; if we cast our lot with
the forces of freedom; we will build a better world. We will
build a world bound by common interests and goals; a world united
in its determination to avoid depression and global war.
I know I have covered an enormous amount of ground in my
talk. So let me describe in concrete terms what the United
States seeks -- in its own interests -- from the new world we
will build.
Americans want a world at peace, one in which no American
will have to shed blood for the ideals we all share. Americans
want to maintain a vigorous security presence in order to prevent
despots from fomenting war, and to stall tyrants who want to roll
back the triumphs of freedom and democracy.
Americans want to live in a world enriched and enlightened
by international trade -- in goods, in ideas, in cultures, and in
12
dreams for the future. We want to live in a world made better by
the geniuses and achievements of every culture.
Americans want the opportunity to compete aggressively in
NJ
the international marketplace. Workers in Seattle and Seacaucus
Chicago
want the chance to compete for business in Singapore and beyond.
Tript15,
At the same time American consumers want access to the best goods
1991
and services that your companies have to offer.
pgnes
Americans want a world united and enlivened by free trade
and fair trade; by a universal commitment to individual liberty,
political pluralism, and greater individual prosperity and
personal fulfillment.
NEXIS
Since 1784, when the Empress of China sailed for Canton from
Country Relations
New York, the United States has tried to build strong ties of
commerce with Asia, while working to prevent hegemonic powers
1991,Winter
from stalling freedom's progress. We remain committed to that
vision.
pg.
hyme
Together, the United States and its Asian-Pacific allies can
James
build a world filled with economic tigers -- nations growing
rapidly; pioneering new intellectual, commercial and cultural
terrain; spreading the blessings of liberty, democracy and free
markets. My trip through Asia this week marks a start: The next
step is up to us all.
Thank you again. May God bless you and the United States of
America.
#
#
#
#
2 January 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR CHRISTINA MARTIN
FROM:
MICHELE NIX g(3 for MN
SUBJECT:
FACT/SPELL CHECK OF SINGAPORE LECTURE SERIES
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
EDITS
Page One: Slug should read: Singapore Westin-Samford Hotel,
January 4, 1992
First graph, 5th sentence: Bin Mohamad (captial B in
Bin)
Page 3:
6th graph, 2nd sentence: Tens of thousands bear (remove
extra of)
Page 5:
3rd graph, first sentence: Almost two months ago
(instead of Just a few weeks ago) per Robert Wang at
State Dept., Singapore Desk. First official arrival
Nov. 11)
5th graph, first sentence: have begun discussing
normalization with Vietnam (instead of have begun
normalizing relations with) per R. Wang
Page 6:
6th graph, second sentence: Ecomonic (delete extra m)
6th graph, 3rd sentence: Tiananmen Square (not
Tienanmen) as spelled by China desk at State
Page 7:
first graph, first word: democracy (add the a)
3rd graph , 2nd sentence: We exported more... delete
Italy -- actually our exports with Singapore equal
Italy (8.0 billion). Can substitute Switzerland (4.9
billion), Greece (765 million), or Isreal (3.2
billion). Info per Laura Anderson, USTR
Page 8:
last graph, last sentence: host close to 230,000
students (add close and change to new number) per
1990-91 figures form the Alfred Julian Institute
Page 10: 4th graph, last sentence: elsewhere (add the e after s)
Page 11: 2nd graph, first sentence: enlightenment (add en)
Hope all is well. Happy New Year. The year of the Monkey.
Changes phoned in by Michele Nix@ 9am. 2 Jan., 92 to Franton
SNOW/NIX
SING.TS
DRAFT THREE
December 27, 1991
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: THE SINGAPORE LECTURE
SINGAPORE WESTIN HOTEL WESTIN-STAMFORD
JANUARY #4 1992
1 P.M.
HOTEL
Prime Minister Goh, Senior Minister Lee, thank you for that
very kind introduction. It's an honor to deliver this lecture,
following such distinguished thinkers as Henry Kissinger and
Milton Friedman and such accomplished leaders as Brian Mulroney,
B
Helmut Schmidt, Rudd Lubbers, Bob Hawke, Mahathir bin Mohamad and
11
Valery Giscard D'Estaing. [additional acknowledgments]
The addresses in this series reflect the changes in our
world. Your first lecturers focused on the ideological and
military struggle between socialism and democratic capitalism --
and especially between the United States and what we used to call
the Soviet Union.
Think of that phrase for a moment -- "what we used to call
the Soviet Union." When citizens pulled down the hammer and
sickle last week, and hauled up a new tricolor of freedom over
the Kremlin, the Soviet Union ceased to exist -- and the prospect
of a new world blossomed before us.
That act culminated a decade of liberation -- a time in
which we witnessed the death throes of totalitarianism, and the
triumph of systems of government devoted to individual liberty,
democratic pluralism, free markets and international engagement.
3
The old world of splintered regions and ideologies has begun
to give way to a global village universally committed to the
values of individual liberty, democracy, free trade, and
universally opposed to aggression and tyranny.
This world poses three intertwined challenges: the challenge
of peace and security, the challenge of democracy, and the
challenge of market freedom.
Consider first the challenge of peace and security.
The world has learned -- through two world wars, and most
recently, through Saddam Hussein's naked aggression -- that
isolationism invites provocation and war.
As a nation that straddles two great oceans, the United
States remains committed to engagement in the Atlantic Community
and the Asia Pacific region -- and unalterably opposed to
isolationism.
Engagement serves the interests of long-term peace. More
than 58,000 Americans died in Vietnam. Tens of thousands of bear
physical and psychological scars for their service. Although
doubters of the age tried to demean their sacrifice, you
understood their achievements. I know that many in Singapore
argue that our engagement in Vietnam granted this nation a
quarter century's head-start on its future.
A quarter century ago, we feared that free nations would
fall like dominoes. Now, we can say with satisfaction, relief
and a robust sense of irony that the totalitarian powers, the
5
Strong, credible security agreements enable us to meet the
second challenge, the challenge of democracy -- a challenge of
shared interests and ideals.
singapore desk, state Dept.
Again, ASEAN has played a crucial role in spreading
First official arrival Nov. 11, per Robert WANg,
democracy, in ways that reflect the values, aspirations, and
cultures of the nations in this region. ASEAN has worked hard to
drag Burma away from the dark shadows of dictatorial tyranny; it
has helped former communist states in Indochina to join a new
order for the ages. I am happy to say that those efforts already
have produced hopeful results.
Almost two months ago
Just a few weeks ago American diplomats arrived in Phnom
Penh for the first time in 16 years. We owe that breakthrough to
many of the nations represented here today.
By the same token, the Cambodian peace accord signed by
Secretary Baker in Paris last October would not have existed
without the help and cooperation of ASEAN. This historic
agreement offers the very real hope of peace and freedom to the
long-suffering people of Cambodia.
[*]
We have ation normalized our ties with Laos and have begun discussing
normalizing relations with Vietnam. With your help, we hope to
[&Juggusted language by R. wang
resolve our remaining concerns with Vietnam -- the full
implementation of the Paris Accords, and for the sake of many,
many American families, the satisfactory resolution of our
concerns about POW/MIAs.
The key point is this: We finally can entertain realistic
hopes of building lasting ties of interest and affection with
6
Indochina. Organizations such as ASEAN, which promote security,
democracy and open markets, form the building blocks for what I
have called the New World Order.
This victory for democracy leads us to the third challenge
for the future, the challenge of building a world of open and
fair trade.
Everyone agrees that political and military isolationism
threaten to destabilize the world. But no one should doubt that
economic isolationism -- protectionism -- can be at least as
devastating.
The protectionist wars of the 1920s and 1930s deepened the
Great Depression, and set in motion conflicts that hastened the
Second World War. The collapse of the international economic
system enabled demagogues to sell the poisons of socialism and
state control -- and to enslave whole nations for decades.
During the past half century, on the other hand, engagement
and trade have produced unprecedented peace and prosperity --
here, in Singapore; throughout free Asia; in Europe and the
United States. This prosperity also has led naturally to
democracy -- a fact that illustrates the indivisible relationship
between security, democracy and individual liberty.
Consider the recent history of China. Econmomic reforms in
1978 set off a decade of rapid economic growth -- with average
annual growth rates of ten percent. This prosperity also
fostered hopes of democracy -- hopes that were crushed brutally
in Tienanmen Square. Since that horrifying moment, Chinese
Spelling per China desk State Dept.
7
a
democrcy has suffered -- and so has the Chinese economy. This is
only natural. People who fear for their futures aren't likely to
engage in the kinds of activities -- hard work, savings,
education, planning -- that keep an economy and a society moving.
In any event, the United States will remain engaged
economically, especially in this part of the world. The Asian-
Pacific region has become the world's economic dynamo. The
economies here continue to grow at an astonishing rate, while
enjoying impressive income equality and general prosperity. You
have lifted yourselves up. Through hard work and dedication, you
have transformed this region. Today, the United States conducts
more trade with the Asian-Pacific region than with Europe.
Our trade with Singapore has increased tenfold during the
past 16 years. We exported more to Singapore last year than to
can substitute 1765 Switzerland lans
Italy or Spain; more to Indonesia than to the whole of Eastern
equal that Itam billion).
our exports w/Singapore
Europe. And our trade with ASEAN nations now approaches our
total trade volume with Germany.
The ASEAN countries, along with other nations in the region,
initiated the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation process two years
ago. APEC offers a powerful vehicle for sustaining free, market-
based trade, for advancing the cause of regional and global trade
liberalization, and for strengthening the cohesion and
(asn 'NOSZRONY
(INFO PER LANRA
interdependence of the Asia-Pacific region.
This is important to us. Most of America's recent economic
growth has come from export industries. Each billion dollars'
worth of merchandise exports can support more than 19,000 good
8
American jobs. Each billion dollars worth of agricultural
exports can support more than 25,000 jobs.
A delegation of major American businesses -- from the
automobile industry to computer and electronics firms -- has
joined me in order to express our national commitment to free and
open trade. Our executives will learn more about trade
opportunities here, and they will also work to help our companies
compete fairly throughout the world.
But we should not think of economic development too
narrowly. An economy is nothing more than the collected work,
ingenuity and optimism of a nation. The term "economy,"
encompasses what millions of people do with their lives.
Therefore, when we talk of strengthening economies, we mean much
more than signing trade pacts. We mean building better lives for
everyone through policies that make us more competitive in the
international marketplace.
Americans understand that no nation will prosper long
without a first-rate educational system. In recent years, our
primary and secondary educational system has not kept pace with
the world. I have encouraged Americans to mount a revolution in
education, which we call the America 2000 Education Strategy.
America 2000 challenges citizens to set high standards for their
schools, and it encourages all Americans to join forces in
creating world-class schools. Meanwhile, we will continue to
strengthen our university system, the world's finest -- and the
host today to 205 0.00° students from Asia.
close 230,000
1990-91 figures 229, 830 per Alfred Julian Inst.
10
many countries maintain trade barriers for cultural or political
reasons, those barriers make no more sense than the wall that
once divided the city of Berlin.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade will play a
crucial role in expanding freedom's frontiers. A successful
conclusion to the Uruguay Round can prepare the way for even
greater trade liberalization in years to come -- and greater
prosperity for everyone.
GATT ensures that the world will continue moving toward
broad economic integration -- and not toward trade blocs. We in
the United States have no desire to break into trade factions.
There's a huge difference between a free trade zone -- an oasis
of free trade -- and a trade bloc that attempts to hold the rest
of the world at bay. We resolutely oppose efforts to create
economic "fortresses" -- anywhere.
On the other hand, we wholeheartedly endorse free-trade
agreements. Our North American Free Trade Agreement will beckon
all nations to make the best of the resources and opportunities
that the United States, Canada and Mexico have to offer. And we
e
support efforts to build free trade agreements elswhere.
Consider your own experience. A regime of free trade has
enabled Singapore to become one of the Four Tigers of Asia, and
one of the fastest developing nations on earth. When other
nations' economies falter, you suffer. The worldwide economic
slowdown has slowed your rate of economic growth this year --
although most nations would be overjoyed to settle for six-
11
percent growth. Singapore has one of the most open economies on
earth, and I appreciate Singapore's leadership in pressing for
even greater market freedom around the world.
Together, nations committed to democracy and free markets
have brought the world to the brink of a new era, one that
promises unprecedented freedom from violence and deprivation.
But we can achieve that future only if we work together to create
it. This world will not simply happen: It will require hard
work, tough negotiation, sacrifice, and the courage of our
convictions.
Yet if we cast our lot with the forces of enlightment over
the counsels of defeatism and ignorance; if we cast our lot with
the forces of freedom; we will build a better world. We will
build a world bound by common interests and goals; a world united
in its determination to avoid depression and global war.
I know I have covered an enormous amount of ground in my
talk. So let me describe in concrete terms what the United
States seeks -- in its own interests -- from the new world we
will build.
Americans want a world at peace, one in which no American
will have to shed blood for the ideals we all share. Americans
want to maintain a vigorous security presence in order to prevent
despots from fomenting war, and to stall tyrants who want to roll
back the triumphs of freedom and democracy.
Americans want to live in a world enriched and enlightened
by international trade -- in goods, in ideas, in cultures, and in
Laura --
Here is the paragraph that needs verification.
"Our trade with Singapore has increased tenfold during the past
16 years. We exported more to Singapore last year than to Italy
or Spain; more to Indonesia than to the whole of Eastern Europe.
And our trade with ASEAN nations now approaches our total trade
volume with Germany. "
Sing 8 billion
8.0 Italy
5.2 Spain
4.9 Switzerland
765 million Greece
3.2 Israel
1990 Bilateral 11.8 billion
2.6 billionen 478
1980 4.9
3.5 times
SINGAPORE
Ken Yong Ong (202) 667-7555 Singapore Embassy
Arthur Kobler -- DCM, U.S. Embassy, Singapore
BEEVILLE
Jay Kimbrough -- Beeville, (512) 358-2074 or (512) 358-8080
Lester Davis -- DOC economist 377-1675
Bob Rauner -- Dir OEA, (703) 697-9155
AUSTRALIA
Brian Woo -- 647-9690
Mort Dworken, Robert Carlson, or Lew Luchs -- U.S. Embassy,
Australia
Pat Kay, John Cowan -- Australian Embassy 797-3126
FAX Proof of Battle of Aus Parliament
Coral Sea
Jan
Sydney Cruise
PM Grenier
FACT CHECK COPY
Snow/Nix
Sing
Draft One
December 23, 1991
L
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: THE SINGAPORE LECTURE
SINGAPORE WESTIN HOTEL
-Stamford
Advance
JANUARY
7,
1991
Sat,
Jan
4.
1
12:15 P.
Prime Minister Lee, thank you for that very kind
introduction. It's an honor to deliver this lecture,
following such distinguished thinkers as Henry Kissinger and
Milton Friedman and such accomplished leaders as Brian Mulroney,
Helmut Schmidt, Rudd Lubbers, Bob Hawke, Mahathir Bin Mohamad and
Valery Giscard D'Estaing. [additional acknowledgments]
The addresses in this series have changed along with our
world. Your first lecturers focused on the ideological and
military struggle between socialism and democratic capitalism --
and especially between the United States and what we used to
call the Soviet Union.
Think of that phrase for a moment -- "what we used to call
the Soviet Union." In the past decade we have witnessed the
death throes of totalitarianism, and the triumph of systems of
government devoted to individual liberty, democratic pluralism,
free markets and international engagement. As this struggle has
drawn to a close, your focus has changed -- away from military
confrontation and toward matters of economic cooperation.
Now, we must accept the challenge of building a new
commonwealth of freedom, an international system dedicated to the
2
ideals of liberty, and chastened by the unprecedented horrors and
lessons this century has taught us.
With the signal exception of confrontation on the Korean
Peninsula, the Cold War has drawn to a close. The Soviet Union
collapsed because it no longer could maintain its stature through
raw military force, and because it could not keep pace with a
world that had outgrown the dogmas and prejudices of state
socialism.
Liberation technologies -- telephones, computers, satellite
dishes and other devices transmit news, information and culture
in ever greater volumes and at ever greater speeds -- have
disabled the old weapons of tyranny. It has become impossible to
build walls of ignorance around any nation. Totalitarianism has
become futile, because information lets individuals control their
own destinies.
Ignorance is the handmaiden of tyranny. We must strive in
all our endeavors to educate our citizens, and give them the most
effective protection for individual liberty: an independent,
educated mind.
As we look toward the 21st Century, we should heed three
critically important lessons of the 20th century.
First, isolationism breeds war. Twice this Century the
nations of the world retreated into provincialism, and twice
those retreats led to bloody world wars. If we wish to avoid
future total war and gory regional conflict, we must understand
3
that vigilance alone will prevent despots from seizing
opportunities to hurl the entire world into war.
Second, we have learned that economic isolationism --
protectionism -- can destroy us all. The protectionist wars of
the 1920s and 1930s set of the Great Depression. They enabled
demagogues to sell the poisons of socialism and state control.
Third, engagement and trade have produced unprecedented
peace and prosperity -- here, in Singapore; throughout free Asia;
in Europe and the United States. The future belongs to the free,
to those who protect it through their vigilance and expand its
horizons through their engagement with the rest of the world.
The United States intends to build upon these lessons as it
prepares for the next century. We have no intention of
disengaging from the rest of the world. Engagement offers our
people their greatest hopes for future freedom, future peace,
future prosperity.
Our engagement will take three forms, reflecting the three
lessons I mentioned above.
First, we will defend our interests all over the world --
including this region. The United States straddles the two great
oceans -- Atlantic and Pacific. As a Pacific Nation, we intend
to become more engaged than ever with our friends and neighbors
in Asia.
I know that our withdrawal from bases in the Philippines has
led some people to speculate that we will retreat again into
isolationism. That's just not true. Those bases, suited to Cold
4
War realities, no longer served the United States or our
Philippines hosts.
Your security and prosperity serve our interests, not simply
because you share our basic ideals, not just because your market
beckons, not just because you command one of the most strategic
waterways on earth. Your wealth and health serve our interests
because they help us build a world in which nations take full
advantage of the productivity, genius and ambitions of other
nations.
An unstable Singapore doesn't help us. An unfree Singapore
doesn't help us. A poverty stricken Singapore doesn't help us.
We need you as free and productive as you can be.
But we also need your support for our presence here. As
a
member of ASEAN, you can help us devise a security strategy that
defends your interests without weaking your sovereignty. I'm
happy that you have helped us craft new and flexible methods for
protecting America's security interests. Access agreements and
ASEAN-US dialog about issues of mutual concern can help us work
in harmony to promote stability in this region.
We also appreciate Singapore's commitment to building
Under Lee Kuan
vigorous democratic institutions -- and its help in supporting
yew
democracy throughout this region.
In the past year the United States has re-established
relations with Cambodia and Vietnam; together, the United States
and its allies will support the forces of freedom in Burma, China
and other nations that do not enjoy the full blessings of
5
liberty. We believe that economic progress begets democracy:
free elections and free markets go hand-in-hand.
We will remain engaged economically as well. Again, this is
a matter of common sense. The Asian-Pacific region has become
the world's economic dynamo. The economies here continue to grow
at an astonishing rate, while enjoying impressive income equality
and general prosperity. Today, we conduct more trade with the
Asian-Pacific region than with Europe.
Indeed, we exported more to Singapore last year than to
Italy or Spain and more to Indonesia than to the whole of Eastern
Europe. Our two-way trade with Singapore has increased tenfold
in the past 16 years.
That's important for Americans, because most of our recent
Lester
economic growth has come from export industries. Each billion
Davis DOC
dollars' worth of manufactured goods that we export can support
more than 23,000 18,000
22,000 good American jobs. Each billion dollars worth of
37775
18,23,000
31675
agricultural exports can support more than 25,000 jobs.
A delegation of major American businesses -- from the
Fothers
automobile industry to computer and electronics firms -- has
joined me in order to express our national commitment to free and
open trade, and to create opportunities for our companies to
compete fairly throughout the world.
But we should not think of economic development too
narrowly. An economy is nothing more than the collected work,
ingenuity and optimism of a nation. The term "economy,"
encompasses what millions of people do with their lives.
6
Therefore, when we talk of strengthening economies, we mean
much more than paring regulation and cutting taxes. We mean
building better lives for everyone.
Americans understand that no nation will prosper long
without a first-rate educational system. In recent years, our
system has not kept pace with educational improvements elsewhere.
I have encouraged Americans to mount a revolution in education,
America
which we call the America 2000 Education Strategy. America 2000
2000
challenges citizens to set high standards for their schools, and
to use all their talents to achieve those goals.
Once we have given students basic skills, we must give them
the freedom to make the most of the knowledge they have acquired.
Tax cuts and deregulation in the 1980s unleashed the greatest
peacetime economic recovery in American history. I have tried to
build on that record by seeking a dramatic reduction in capital
gains taxes. After all, most of our competitors impose very low
taxes on capital gains. Some, like Singapore, don't tax capital
gains at all. We must create a climate conducive to risk, to
innovation, to bold exploration of new technologies and ideas --
and we will. Americans are proud people, and they won't settle
for being second-best, especially in economic competition.
The nations of the world want to enjoy the blessings of
growth without destroying our environment. Yet we must struggle
to protect that environment without denying poorer nations the
opportunity to enjoy the benefits of economic development. We
must understand that regulations designed to protect the
7
environment sometimes can prevent us from developing technologies
that would make our habitat even cleaner.
Politicians sometimes flatter themselves by pretending that
they can regulate troublesome problems out of existence. Too
often, however, those well-meaning efforts merely stall progress
toward real and lasting solutions. Together, we all must work to
discover the boundaries of prudent regulation -- and the best way
to cultivate new jobs, new development, new economic growth.
That's why I believe in free and fair trade. Nations can
achieve astonishing levels of prosperity when they submit
themselves to the bracing competition of the marketplace. While
many countries maintain trade barriers for cultural or political
reasons, those barriers make no more sense than the barrier that
once divided the city of Berlin. Sooner or later they will fall,
and we all ought to join forces to ensure that the walls fall
sooner, rather than later.
GATT
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade will play a
crucial role in expanding freedom's frontiers. A successful
conclusion to the Uruguay Round can prepare the way for even
greater trade liberalization in years to come -- and greater
prosperity for everyone.
GATT ensures that the world will continue moving toward
broad economic integration -- and not toward trade blocs. We in
the United States have no desire to break into trade factions.
Our North American Free Trade Agreement will beckon all nations
8
to make the best of the resources and opportunities that the
United States, Canada and Mexico have to offer. We resolutely
oppose efforts to create economic "fortresses" -- anywhere.
Trade blocs merely represent a multinational form of
protectionism I They create the possibility of new wars. It
makes perfect sense for nations to cooperate with other nations
in their region; it makes little sense to pit bloc against bloc
and forfeit the gains of free trade.
Consider your own experience. A regime of free trade has
enabled Singapore to become one of the Four Tigers of Asia, and
one of the fastest developing nations on earth. When other
nations' economies falter, you suffer. The worldwide economic
slowdown has slowed your rate of economic growth this year --
although most nations would be overjoyed to settle for six-
percent growth. You have one of the most open economies on
earth, and I appreciate your working with the United States to
address the minor disagreements we have today.
Your history and ours testify to the power of vigilance and
engagement. Americans fought in Vietnam a quarter century ago
for freedom. More than 58,000 died; tens of thousands of others
returned maimed -- physically and psychologically. Yet while
doubters of the age tried to demean their sacrifice, you know
better. American blood kept this region free -- and granted you
a quarter century's head-start on your own future. We will not
dishonor their sacrifice by retreating now. Instead, we will
9
work with you to develop the kind of security the new world will
demand.
Together, nations committed to democracy and free markets
have brought the world to the brink of a new era, one that
promises unprecedented freedom from violence and deprivation.
But we can achieve that future only if we work together to create
it. This world will not simply happen: It will require hard
work, tough negotiation, sacrifice, and the courage of our
convictions.
Yet if we cast our lot with the forces of freedom -- the
forces of the future; if we cast our lot with the forces of
enlightment over the counsels of defeatism and ignorance; if we
cast our lots with those who will test their goods and their
ideas in the bracing market of world competition, we will build a
better world --- a world bound by common interests and goals; a
world united in its determination to avoid the scourges of
depression and world war.
Today, every nation must reassess its role in the world --
and nations are. Every nation must set its own course for the
future -- and nations are. I come here to ask your help in
building the world we all want -- not by appealing to fears and
hatreds, but by appealing to the best in us all; not by demanding
special favors, but by insisting on fair competition. We will
shape the post Cold War World. We must accept responsibility for
putting our convictions into action during peacetime, just as we
did in times of war.
10
I have full confidence that we can build a world filled with
economic tigers -- nations growing rapidly; pioneering new
intellectual, commercial and cultural terrain; spreading the
blessings of liberty, democracy and free markets across the
globe. My trip through Asia this week marks a start: The next
step is up to us all.
Thank you again. May God bless you and the United States of
America.
#
#
#
#
AMERICAN EMBASSY SINGAPORE
KEY PERSONNEL
TELEPHONE LISTING
Embassy Tel: 338-0251
Ext. #
Executive Office
Ambassador
Robert D. Orr
218*
Deputy Chief of Mission
Arthur Kobler
217*
Section Chiefs - State Department
Administrative Counselor
Bob Courtney
223*
Communications Officer
Frank Pressley
264*
Consular
Caryl Courtney
328*
Econ/Pol Counselor
C. Lawrence Greenwood Jr.
300/309*
General Service Officer
Frank Matthews
271*
Personnel Officer
Ben Justesen
251*
Systems Manager
Aila Long
227*
Reg. Security Officer
Douglas Quiram
222*
Chiefs - Other Agencies
Agricultural Trade Office
Geoff Wiggin
737-1233
Defense Attache Office
CAPT. William Cooper, USN
315/316*
Drug Enforcement Admin.
Harry Fullett
286*
Federal Aviation Admin.
Don Schmidt
341*
Foreign Commercial Service
George Ruffner
338-9722
Immigration & Nat.
Donald Addington, acting
334-4075
Internal Revenue Service
Charles Landry
245*
Marine Security Guard (NCOIC)
GySgt. Dempsey
203*
Navy Regional Contracting Cen.
LCDR. Anthony Mosley
221-6266
Refugee Office
Caryl Courtney
328*
AID - Regional Inspector
James Durnil
334-2766
General / Audit
AID - Regional Inspector
Philip Rodokanakis
334-1766
General / Investigations
Customs Service
James Wilkie
345*
U.S. Information Service
Dennis D. Donahue
224-5233
*Embassy Telephone: 338-0251
THEMES FOR ASIA TRIP
Overall
America is an Asia-Pacific partner for the long haul
(America will not retreat into isolationism/protectionism)
--
Economically
--
Politically
-- Security
As outlined in the President's Asia Society speech, there
are six keys to America's long-term vision for the Asia
Pacific. The trip will highlight each of these:
I.
PROGRESSIVE TRADE LIBERALIZATION
--
Aggressively pursue Uruguay Round Settlement (if still
pending) (Japan, Korea, Australia)
--
Promote APEC (All countries)
--
Push access for American products and services (Japan,
Korea)
--
Encourage American investment in the region (Singapore,
Japan, Korea)
II. SECURITY COOPERATION
--
Maintain pressure on DPRK nuclear program. Stress need for
united action against DPRK nuclear program (all countries;
encourage Singapore to get ASEAN action during upcoming
ASEAN Summit)
U.S. will restructure, but remain engaged
--
Continued air and naval presence at current levels in
Japan for the foreseeable future
--
Korea presence dependent on progress for lasting peace
on the peninsula; however, envision long-term air
presence for regional deterrence into the future
--
Singapore agreement as model for access arrangements of
the future in other parts of the region
III. A SHARED COMMITMENT TO DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Continue pressure on ROK (last visit by Pres. Bush made a
difference)
--
Lay out position on Vietnam (Singapore)
--
Highlight China if necessary
2
IV EDUCATIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION
--
Show link between domestic agenda and foreign policy
--
Highlight S&T progress (all countries)
--
Examine educational differences that we can learn from
(Japan, Korea)
V
RESPECT FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
--
Note progress made and areas for improvement (Japan, Korea)
--
Announce SE Asia initiative (if ready)
VI
APPRECIATION OF DISTINCT CULTURAL HERITAGES
--
Announce various cultural exchange initiatives (all
countries)
Snow/Nix
Sing
Draft One
December 23, 1991
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: THE SINGAPORE LECTURE
SINGAPORE WESTIN HOTEL
JANUARY 7, 1991
Sat, Jan 4.
1 P.M. 12:15 P.
Prime Minister Lee, thank you for that very kind
introduction. It's an honor to deliver this lecture,
following such distinguished thinkers as Henry Kissinger and
Milton Friedman and such accomplished leaders as Brian Mulroney,
Helmut Schmidt, Rudd Lubbers, Bob Hawke, Mahathir Bin Mohamad and
Valery Giscard D'Estaing. [additional acknowledgments]
The addresses in this series have changed along with our
world. Your first lecturers focused on the ideological and
military struggle between socialism and democratic capitalism --
and especially between the United States and what we used to
call the Soviet Union.
Think of that phrase for a moment -- "what we used to call
the Soviet Union." In the past decade we have witnessed the
death throes of totalitarianism, and the triumph of systems of
government devoted to individual liberty, democratic pluralism,
free markets and international engagement. As this struggle has
drawn to a close, your focus has changed -- away from military
confrontation and toward matters of economic cooperation.
Now, we must accept the challenge of building a new
commonwealth of freedom, an international system dedicated to the
2
ideals of liberty, and chastened by the unprecedented horrors and
lessons this century has taught us.
With the signal exception of confrontation on the Korean
Peninsula, the Cold War has drawn to a close. The Soviet Union
collapsed because it no longer could maintain its stature through
raw military force, and because it could not keep pace with a
world that had outgrown the dogmas and prejudices of state
socialism.
Liberation technologies -- telephones, computers, satellite
dishes and other devices transmit news, information and culture
in ever greater volumes and at ever greater speeds -- have
disabled the old weapons of tyranny. It has become impossible to
build walls of ignorance around any nation. Totalitarianism has
become futile, because information lets individuals control their
own destinies.
Ignorance is the handmaiden of tyranny. We must strive in
all our endeavors to educate our citizens, and give them the most
effective protection for individual liberty: an independent,
educated mind.
As we look toward the 21st Century, we should heed three
critically important lessons of the 20th century.
First, isolationism breeds war. Twice this Century the
nations of the world retreated into provincialism, and twice
those retreats led to bloody world wars. If we wish to avoid
future total war and gory regional conflict, we must understand
3
that vigilance alone will prevent despots from seizing
opportunities to hurl the entire world into war.
Second, we have learned that economic isolationism --
protectionism -- can destroy us all. The protectionist wars of
the 1920s and 1930s set of the Great Depression. They enabled
demagogues to sell the poisons of socialism and state control.
Third, engagement and trade have produced unprecedented
peace and prosperity -- here, in Singapore; throughout free Asia;
in Europe and the United States. The future belongs to the free,
to those who protect it through their vigilance and expand its
horizons through their engagement with the rest of the world.
The United States intends to build upon these lessons as it
prepares for the next century. We have no intention of
disengaging from the rest of the world. Engagement offers our
people their greatest hopes for future freedom, future peace,
future prosperity.
Our engagement will take three forms, reflecting the three
lessons I mentioned above.
First, we will defend our interests all over the world --
including this region. The United States straddles the two great
oceans -- Atlantic and Pacific. As a Pacific Nation, we intend
to become more engaged than ever with our friends and neighbors
in Asia.
I know that our withdrawal from bases in the Philippines has
led some people to speculate that we will retreat again into
isolationism. That's just not true. Those bases, suited to Cold
4
War realities, no longer served the United States or our
Philippines hosts.
Your security and prosperity serve our interests, not simply
because you share our basic ideals, not just because your market
beckons, not just because you command one of the most strategic
waterways on earth. Your wealth and health serve our interests
because they help us build a world in which nations take full
advantage of the productivity, genius and ambitions of other
nations.
An unstable Singapore doesn't help us. An unfree Singapore
doesn't help us. A poverty stricken Singapore doesn't help us.
We need you as free and productive as you can be.
But we also need your support for our presence here. As a
member of ASEAN, you can help us devise a security strategy that
defends your interests without weaking your sovereignty. I'm
happy that you have helped us craft new and flexible methods for
protecting America's security interests. Access agreements and
ASEAN-US dialog about issues of mutual concern can help us work
in harmony to promote stability in this region.
We also appreciate Singapore's commitment to building
vigorous democratic institutions -- and its help in supporting
democracy throughout this region.
In the past year the United States has re-established
relations with Cambodia and Vietnam; together, the United States
and its allies will support the forces of freedom in Burma, China
and other nations that do not enjoy the full blessings of
5
liberty. We believe that economic progress begets democracy:
free elections and free markets go hand-in-hand.
We will remain engaged economically as well. Again, this is
a matter of common sense. The Asian-Pacific region has become
the world's economic dynamo. The economies here continue to grow
at an astonishing rate, while enjoying impressive income equality
and general prosperity. Today, we conduct more trade with the
Asian-Pacific region than with Europe.
Indeed, we exported more to Singapore last year than to
Italy or Spain and more to Indonesia than to the whole of Eastern
Europe. Our two-way trade with Singapore has increased tenfold
in the past 16 years.
change &
That's important for Americans, because most of our recent
In 1990,
in from
economic growth has come from export industries. V Each billion
Airport
12/23/dollars'
worth of manufactured goods that we export ed can support more than
wis
18
22,000 good American jobs. Each billion dollars worth of
23
377-1675
agricultural exports can support more than 25,000 jobs.
A delegation of major American businesses -- from the
automobile industry to computer and electronics firms -- has
joined me in order to express our national commitment to free and
open trade, and to create opportunities for our companies to
compete fairly throughout the world.
But we should not think of economic development too
narrowly. An economy is nothing more than the collected work,
ingenuity and optimism of a nation. The term "economy,"
encompasses what millions of people do with their lives.
6
Therefore, when we talk of strengthening economies, we mean
much more than paring regulation and cutting taxes. We mean
building better lives for everyone.
Americans understand that no nation will prosper long
without a first-rate educational system. In recent years, our
system has not kept pace with educational improvements elsewhere.
I have encouraged Americans to mount a revolution in education,
which we call the America 2000 Education Strategy. America 2000
challenges citizens to set high standards for their schools, and
to use all their talents to achieve those goals.
Once we have given students basic skills, we must give them
the freedom to make the most of the knowledge they have acquired.
Tax cuts and deregulation in the 1980s unleashed the greatest
peacetime economic recovery in American history. I have tried to
build on that record by seeking a dramatic reduction in capital
gains taxes. After all, most of our competitors impose very low
taxes on capital gains. Some, like Singapore, don't tax capital
gains at all. We must create a climate conducive to risk, to
innovation, to bold exploration of new technologies and ideas --
and we will. Americans are proud people, and they won't settle
for being second-best, especially in economic competition.
The nations of the world want to enjoy the blessings of
growth without destroying our environment. Yet we must struggle
to protect that environment without denying poorer nations the
opportunity to enjoy the benefits of economic development. We
must understand that regulations designed to protect the
7
environment sometimes can prevent us from developing technologies
that would make our habitat even cleaner.
Politicians sometimes flatter themselves by pretending that
they can regulate troublesome problems out of existence. Too
often, however, those well-meaning efforts merely stall progress
toward real and lasting solutions. Together, we all must work to
discover the boundaries of prudent regulation -- and the best way
to cultivate new jobs, new development, new economic growth.
That's why I believe in free and fair trade. Nations can
achieve astonishing levels of prosperity when they submit
themselves to the bracing competition of the marketplace. While
many countries maintain trade barriers for cultural or political
reasons, those barriers make no more sense than the barrier that
once divided the city of Berlin. Sooner or later they will fall,
and we all ought to join forces to ensure that the walls fall
sooner, rather than later.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade will play a
crucial role in expanding freedom's frontiers. A successful
conclusion to the Uruguay Round can prepare the way for even
greater trade liberalization in years to come -- and greater
prosperity for everyone.
GATT ensures that the world will continue moving toward
broad economic integration -- and not toward trade blocs. We in
the United States have no desire to break into trade factions.
Our North American Free Trade Agreement will beckon all nations
8
to make the best of the resources and opportunities that the
United States, Canada and Mexico have to offer. We resolutely
oppose efforts to create economic "fortresses" -- anywhere.
Trade blocs merely represent a multinational form of
protectionism,. They create the possibility of new wars. It
makes perfect sense for nations to cooperate with other nations
in their region; it makes little sense to pit bloc against bloc
and forfeit the gains of free trade.
Consider your own experience. A regime of free trade has
enabled Singapore to become one of the Four Tigers of Asia, and
one of the fastest developing nations on earth. When other
nations' economies falter, you suffer. The worldwide economic
slowdown has slowed your rate of economic growth this year --
although most nations would be overjoyed to settle for six-
percent growth. You have one of the most open economies on
earth, and I appreciate your working with the United States to
address the minor disagreements we have today.
Your history and ours testify to the power of vigilance and
engagement. Americans fought in Vietnam a quarter century ago
for freedom. More than 58,000 died; tens of thousands of others
returned maimed -- physically and psychologically. Yet while
doubters of the age tried to demean their sacrifice, you know
better. American blood kept this region free -- and granted you
a quarter century's head-start on your own future. We will not
dishonor their sacrifice by retreating now. Instead, we will
9
work with you to develop the kind of security the new world will
demand.
Together, nations committed to democracy and free markets
have brought the world to the brink of a new era, one that
promises unprecedented freedom from violence and deprivation.
But we can achieve that future only if we work together to create
it. This world will not simply happen: It will require hard
work, tough negotiation, sacrifice, and the courage of our
convictions.
Yet if we cast our lot with the forces of freedom -- the
forces of the future; if we cast our lot with the forces of
enlightment over the counsels of defeatism and ignorance; if we
cast our lots with those who will test their goods and their
ideas in the bracing market of world competition, we will build a
better world -- a world bound by common interests and goals; a
world united in its determination to avoid the scourges of
depression and world war.
Today, every nation must reassess its role in the world --
and nations are. Every nation must set its own course for the
future -- and nations are. I come here to ask your help in
building the world we all want -- not by appealing to fears and
hatreds, but by appealing to the best in us all; not by demanding
special favors, but by insisting on fair competition. We will
shape the post Cold War World. We must accept responsibility for
putting our convictions into action during peacetime, just as we
did in times of war.
10
I have full confidence that we can build a world filled with
economic tigers -- nations growing rapidly; pioneering new
intellectual, commercial and cultural terrain; spreading the
blessings of liberty, democracy and free markets across the
globe. My trip through Asia this week marks a start: The next
step is up to us all.
Thank you again. May God bless you and the United States of
America.
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