Balance of power key for regional peace: Vivian Balakrishnan

Tokyo

RECENT developments in the South China Sea have created tensions, but confrontation is not inevitable - provided a balance of power can be kept among major nations of the region, Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan suggested in Tokyo on Tuesday.

In a speech to the Japan-Singapore Symposium on the 50th anniversary of the restoration of post-war diplomatic relations between the two countries, he expressed Singapore's support for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "Proactive Contribution to Peace" policy, and urged Japan to deepen its strategic engagement with South-east Asia and the wider region, in the interests of maintaining a broad balance of forces and power.