SINGAPORE — U.S. President Donald Trump is not “completely wrong” in suggesting that the disruption of energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz is Asia’s problem, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said.
Asian economies are among the biggest consumers of energy shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea, making any prolonged disruption particularly far-reaching for the region.
Trump said Asian economies should shoulder more of the burden of keeping the waterway open rather than relying primarily on U.S. protection.
“We don’t use the strait. We don’t need it. Europe needs it. Korea, Japan, China (and) many other countries,” he said earlier this year.
Balakrishnan, however, cautioned against looking at the issue simply from the perspective of who buys the oil, emphasizing the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation on international waterways. He made the remarks to CNBC on Wednesday at the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore.
For Singapore, this principle is “non-negotiable”, Balakrishnan said, citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and Rights of Transit Passage and Freedom of Navigation. “For us, this is an existential question, and it is a question of principle, a question of international law,” Balakrishnan said.
Iran’s attempts to assert greater control over traffic passing through Hormuz also go beyond the revenue it could generate from tolls and fees, he said.
From Tehran’s perspective, the ability to charge ships fees could effectively establish its right to determine which ships are allowed to pass, giving Iran what Balakrishnan described as a potential “veto power” over Hormuz.
That power could provide Tehran with “more leverage right now than even a potential nuclear weapon from the Iranian perspective,” he said.
Balakrishnan added that he does not expect the United States or Gulf states to tolerate a situation in which Iran has such a veto over the waterway, suggesting tensions could persist even if oil continues to flow.
“I think there will be a lot of jostling over the next few months,” he said, adding that he did not see “a quick diplomatic exit” to conflict.
In April, Balakrishnan warned that a conflict between the United States and China in the Pacific could make the disruptions seen in the Strait of Hormuz seem like a “dry run,” highlighting the vulnerability of global trade at critical maritime chokepoints.
Balakrishnan argued that Singapore would “refuse to choose” between Washington and Beijing, instead acting according to its own long-term national interests, while emphasizing that the city-state would respect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Malacca and would not participate in efforts to close, ban or impose tolls on the waterway.
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