Secretary Antony J. Blinken With Teresa Tang of Channel News Asia

QUESTION:  Secretary Blinken, thank you very much for sitting down with CNA.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Good to be with you.

QUESTION:  I want to start with a developing story that we’re following.  A few hours ago Hamas said that its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran by an Israeli strike, and they’re calling it an assassination.  Haniyeh was involved in ceasefire talks in Gaza.  What impact is his death going to have?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, of course I’ve seen the – seen the reports.  And what I can tell you is this.  First, this is something we were not aware of or involved in.  It’s very hard to speculate, and I’ve learned over many years never to speculate on the impact one event may have on something else.  So I can’t tell you what this means.  I can tell you that the imperative of getting a ceasefire, the importance that that has for everyone, remains.  And we will continue to labor at that for as long as it takes to get there.  It’s vitally important to help end the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.  It’s vitally important to getting the hostages home – including a number of Americans.  It’s vitally important to hopefully putting things on a better path for more enduring peace, for more enduring security.  So that focus remains, and again, speculating on the impact of any one event, I’ve learned, is not – is not a wise thing to do.

QUESTION:  The Iranian president has responded.  I just want to read you some of his comments.  He has vowed to make Israel regret the killing, saying that it’s Iran’s duty to avenge his death.  How do you prevent retaliation against Israel, and should there be a major counterattack, how far is the U.S. willing to go in support of Israel?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  From day one, since October 7th, the horrific attack on Israel and on its men, women, and children, one of the things that we’ve been focused on is trying to make sure that the conflict that emerged in Gaza doesn’t spread, it doesn’t go to other places, doesn’t escalate.  And we’re going to continue to do that as well.  Now, again, the best way to bring the temperature down everywhere, put us on a better path, is through a ceasefire in Gaza.  That will have, I think, important effects on other areas where you could see conflict – whether it’s in the north of Israel and Lebanon, whether it’s Iran, whether it’s in the Red Sea with the Houthis.  So that’s why that – the focus on the ceasefire needs to remain, and for us, it will very much remain.

QUESTION:  I want to bring things back to this region now.  You’ve been busy – six countries, 10 days.  I believe this is your 18th trip to the Indo-Pacific region.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  That’s right.

QUESTION:  Yeah – since becoming Secretary.  And I want to talk about one of the biggest announcements of this tour, which is the U.S. upgrading its military command structure in Japan.  Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin calls it one of the strongest improvements in U.S.-Japan military ties in 70 years.  Why now?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  I think what we’re seeing across the board is something that President Biden was determined that we do from day one, and that was to reinvigorate, to in some cases even reimagine – but to start by reinvigorating our core alliances and our core partnerships.  And we’ve done that around the world, but particularly we’ve done that in the Indo-Pacific region.  As you mentioned, yes, this is the 18th time I’ve been to the region.  Even with everything else that’s going on in other parts of the world, our focus is here because we see our future, as an Indo-Pacific country ourselves, as very much being with this region.

And when it comes to Japan or when it comes to Korea, where we have treaty alliances, we’re going to make sure, and continue to make sure, that they have everything they need to be able to defend their sovereignty, defend themselves against any threats, and that they have the ability to work closely with us.  And I think you see Japan that increasingly in recent years is stepping up to its responsibilities in historic ways.  But what’s so important about each of these alliances is that every single one of them is defensive in nature.  There is no design on anyone else, on anyone else’s territory.  This is all about making sure that, as necessary, we can protect ourselves from threats and, most important, deter them from happening in the first place.

So what we’re doing with Japan, what we’re doing with Korea, is very much what we’re doing in different ways with other partners in the region.  That’s the intent behind it.

QUESTION:  Let’s linger on that for a moment.  So Japan, it really has emerged as a key ally for the United States.  And prior to the Quad meeting, the State Department said there’s nothing – almost nothing – in the Indo Pacific region that the U.S. is doing without Japan.  Some may hear that and think, okay, there’s the potential for overreliance on this one particular ally.  How would you address that?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, I think if you look at our engagement throughout the region, you see us strengthening, building, and even creating new partnerships with countries and institutions throughout the region.  We’ve engaged in a very sustained way with ASEAN, for example, and believe in ASEAN’s centrality for the region.  We’ve also created much stronger relationships with countries from the Philippines to Vietnam, as well as with some of our traditional partners, including Japan, including Korea, including Australia, including New Zealand – and India.

So what we’re really doing is this.  As we’re looking at the world, we see that virtually none of the challenges that we have to address that actually impact the lives of Americans can we effectively, successfully do alone.  It requires doing things in partnership of one kind or another with different countries, with different institutions, with different actors.  And so even as we’ve reinvigorated some of our traditional alliances, re-energized them, we’ve also been creating new – new arrangements of countries to deal with specific challenges, specific problems.  We have the Quad you mentioned with India, with Japan, with Australia, doing things like producing and distributing vaccines during COVID, helping countries build what we call their domain awareness in the maritime space so that they know what’s going on in the seas around them; building up their capacity to deal with humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

These are all things that have an affirmative vision, one of creating a region that is – and sustaining a region that’s free, that’s open, that’s prosperous, that’s connected; and also helping to deal with practical challenges in ways that countries coming together can do much more effectively than any one of us acting alone.

QUESTION:  You mentioned ASEAN, and ASEAN’s centrality is really all about the bloc deciding for itself its relationships in this region.  And it’s an incredibly varied group of nations.  There’s no one opinion of the Quad, but some members are fearful.  Some members see the potential of the Quad being a regional order-making institution.  What would you say to those members who have that fear?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  I’d say that what the Quad is, and the other arrangements that we have are, are complementary to, supportive of ASEAN and its central mission and core mission.  What we’re interested in doing is finding ways to make sure that we have the most effective vehicles for addressing particular problems, and in places that can be done very effectively, working with and through ASEAN.  There are other places where having specific, fit-for-purpose arrangements of those countries makes the most sense.  And with the Quad we bring a lot of resources to bear, we bring some unique capacities to bear, we bring some different relationships to bear – and we hope that that can make a difference – but in doing things that are in the interests of, for example, all of the ASEAN countries.

QUESTION:  Your week-long visit has sent a clear message that America is committed, is invested in this region – America watching Asia, Asia also watching America, and we are seeing your country’s incredibly politically polarized right now.  And with Mr. Biden, President Biden not seeking another term, many are expecting Kamala Harris to face Donald Trump in November.  Regardless of the party, regardless of the person, what would you tell the next American president?  What should be the priority for them for Asia?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, I’d say two things.  First, of course, we have elections every four years for president in our country, and it’s absolutely normal that people around the world, countries around the world will be looking carefully at them, because we’re so engaged in the world that it’s just a normal and natural thing.  And that’s not a surprise to me at all.

At the same time, if you look at where I think the overwhelming majority of Americans are, they are for a United States that’s engaged, that’s leading, that’s working in partnership with others, not doing things alone.  I think they know both intuitively and in a very practical way that we’re going to be much more effective if we can make common cause with other countries to actually get things done.  And that’s – I think reflects the overwhelming majority of Americans.

For the next president, well, far be it from me to give advice.  But I think – I can tell you this because I think it’s – I know this working for both of them.  Both President Biden and Vice President Harris believe strongly that first, when the United States is not engaged, if we’re not leading, then probably someone else is and maybe not in a way that’s going to advance our interests and values – interests and values that we share with so many, including Singapore – or maybe just as bad, no one’s engaged, and then you’re going to have a vacuum that’s probably filled by bad things before it’s filled by good things.

But the flip side of that coin, again, what both President Biden and Vice President Harris believe strongly, is to actually effectively deal with these challenges that are having an impact on the lives of so many Americans, we have to find ways to cooperate, to collaborate, to work with others.  For all our power at this point in history, even the United States can’t effectively solve most of these problems alone.  There’s a premium, a greater premium than at any time that I’ve – since I’ve been doing this, more than 30 years – on finding ways to collaborate, to coordinate.

And when it comes to the Indo-Pacific, for us that’s not only the present – it’s clearly the future.  This is the most dynamic region in the world.  We’re an Indo-Pacific country ourselves, and I know, for both the President and Vice President, that’s where they see our future.  That’s reflected in what we’re doing now with this intense and sustained engagement these last three and a half years, and I’m convinced that that will be the approach that’s taken in the coming time as well.

QUESTION:  One final question.  You are in Singapore.  You’ve met with the prime minister, the foreign minister, senior minister as well.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  That’s right.

QUESTION:  Very forward-looking in tone.  Can you tell me what you’re most excited about in terms of the future?  And where will the two countries benefit the most?

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, first, we have an extraordinary partnership and an extraordinary foundation that’s been built up over many years.  Right now by far, for example, the United States is the – overwhelmingly the largest provider of foreign direct investment in Singapore.  And happily, at this point in time as well – and by the way, this is true across ASEAN; we’re the largest single provider of foreign direct investment across the ASEAN countries.  We’re also the largest recipient of foreign direct investment of any country in the world.

Why is that important?  Because that is maybe among the most important evidence of trust between countries, of confidence, of optimism about the future.  Because people don’t make investments if they don’t believe that they have a strong partner to work with and that they’re going to achieve something going forward.  So I see that.  I see with Singapore an extraordinary partnership beyond that, of course.  We’ve long had a strong military partnership.  But the economic foundation, foreign direct investment, the free trade agreement that was signed many years ago, the work that we’re doing together in two ways to really shape the future that we focused on today.

First, we have an ongoing dialogue on critical and emerging technology, where we both know that so much of the technology that’s emerging now is going to shape the lives of all of our people for decades to come.  Working together, we’re trying to find the best ways to make sure we’re shaping that technology to maximize the good that it can bring and minimize the bad.  And this has been really a terrific collaboration between our countries.

Second, we signed or renewed an agreement that we had where, coming together, the United States and Singapore are helping to build capacity in other countries throughout the ASEAN region, helping to train government officials and others on some of the most critical issues –whether it’s – whether it’s health, whether it’s climate, whether it’s technology, supply chains – all of the kinds of things that are so necessary for all of our countries to succeed.  And I think that’s a very powerful story of the United States and Singapore working together, not only to the benefit of our own people but to the benefit of people throughout the region that we share.

QUESTION:  Secretary Blinken, thank you very much for your time.  Thank you for speaking with CNA.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thanks.  Great to be with you.  Thank you.