Singapore to Allow U.S. Use of Military Facilities

The Bush Administration is preparing to sign a defense agreement with Singapore that will enable the United States to position warplanes and ships there, a move aimed at reducing American reliance on bases in the Philippines, U.S. officials say.

Under the agreement, the United States will be able to keep four advanced F-16 fighters in Singapore, take Navy ships into Singapore’s strategically located port and house a contingent of about 160 to 170 American military personnel in the Southeast Asian city-state.

The United States will not have its own military base in Singapore under the arrangement. But it will have access to Singapore defense facilities, and a U.S. official said that the agreement will pave the way for “virtually a permanent presence” for American forces.

In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the Philippines has been the only country in Southeast Asia to permit a U.S. military presence, but the future of Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Base is clouded by Philippine nationalist opposition and U.S. budgetary constraints.

Some U.S. officials hope that the Singapore deal will break ground for a series of new defense relationships between the United States and other countries in the region, including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Officials and informed diplomats said it is possible, although not yet certain, that the agreement will be signed when Secretary of State James A. Baker III visits Singapore in early August.

“Politically, this is a signal that the United States is intent on staying engaged in Asia, and particularly Southeast and Southwest Asia,” said one U.S. official, who spoke on condition that he not be identified by name.

Singapore, a former British colony, has one of the world’s largest harbors and oil refineries. It lies alongside the Strait of Malacca, the strategic waterway through which Japan and South Korea get most of their oil from the Persian Gulf.

U.S. officials emphasized that the American presence in Singapore will not be a substitute for the far larger U.S. contingents at Clark and Subic Bay. And they denied that the deal is intended as a bargaining ploy in the sensitive talks this year over the future of the Philippine bases.

However, one U.S. official acknowledged, “There’s a signal there (to the Philippines) that if you don’t want to play, we’ll go ahead and do what we have to do.”

For their part, Philippine officials said that they would not mind having a neighboring country in Southeast Asia share the responsibility for hosting U.S. military forces.

“We feel that this (the agreement with Singapore) is part of the restructuring that has to be done with respect to the American military forces in the region,” said Emmanuel N. Pelaez, the Philippine ambassador to the United States. “We don’t feel it’s an alternative to the Philippines. It’s spreading out the burden of hosting these facilities.”

Pelaez noted that during the coming negotiations over the Philippine bases, “We could take advantage of whatever favorable terms Singapore gets.” The United States maintains about 15,000 troops in the Philippines. Clark Air Base, by itself, encompasses more land than Singapore.

“We cannot do in Singapore what we do in the Philippines,” said an aide to Rep. Stephen J. Solarz (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia and a strong supporter of the government of President Corazon Aquino. “There’s not enough land in Singapore, and it doesn’t have the kind of labor pool that is available in the Philippines.”

The 1966 Military Bases Agreement between the United States and the Philippines expires next year. The Bush Administration is seeking to negotiate some form of continued use of its bases at Clark and Subic Bay, as well as four smaller bases, but Philippine opposition and foreign aid cutbacks have complicated the outlook.

Last year, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew surprised other Asian countries by publicly offering to let the United States use his country’s military facilities.

U.S. and Singapore officials began discussions early this year. Officials from the two countries already have concluded three rounds of talks and the basic outlines of the agreement have been worked out. Another round of talks is scheduled next week to iron out final details.

Under the proposed agreement, U.S. military personnel will be allowed to live in barracks once used by a New Zealand battalion in Singapore. American planes will operate out of Singapore’s Paya Lebar air base, and U.S. ships will use the repair and storage facilities in Singapore’s shipyards.

The United States will not pay rent to Singapore or give it foreign aid, but it will pay for operation and maintenance of the military facilities.

“We pay for what we use,” one U.S. official said. He would not specify how much money the arrangement might involve.

One of the thorniest questions in the talks has been what to do about American service personnel arrested on criminal charges in Singapore. For example, Singapore law authorizes the death penalty for those convicted of drug trafficking. Sources close to the negotiations said that the two sides recently worked out a compromise on the issue.

Singapore’s original offer to host U.S. military personnel aroused concern in neighboring countries, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia, about a possible change in the balance of power in the region. Malaysia and Indonesia are members of the Nonaligned Movement and have been strongly committed to the goal of turning Southeast Asia into a nuclear-free zone.

But one knowledgeable Asian diplomatic source said that Singapore has eased the objections of the two countries by making clear that it is not giving the United States a military base and is merely offering the Americans access to Singaporean military facilities.

Singapore is a member of the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations, a regional organization whose other members are Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

“We are talking about building defense relationships with the other nations of ASEAN,” said one U.S. official. He noted that the United States already conducts military exercises with Thailand and is talking about stepping up defense activities with Malaysia and Indonesia.

A Defense Department white paper on U.S. military strategy in Asia released this spring asserted that “expanded access or new basing arrangements with ASEAN could help counterbalance a reduced military presence in the Philippines.”

But the paper predicted that “most (Southeast Asian countries) are unlikely to enter into formal security alliances or basing arrangements with the United States.”