Reporter: Michael Dwyer
EDMOND ROY: Amidst tight security this weekend, Singapore is playing host to the Asia-Pacific defence community.
The Second Asia Security Conference organised by the London think tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, is being attended by many Asian countries, Britain, France and the United States.
As Michael Dwyer reports from Singapore, top of the agenda is regional terrorism.
MICHAEL DWYER: It's the first time since the war in Iraq that defence ministers, officials and analysts have gathered at a major summit. US Deputy Secretary for Defence, Paul Wolfowitz was the star attraction.
PAUL WOLFOWITZ: The Unites States is committed to security and stability in this important part of the world. We understand how important the Asia-Pacific region is to the future of the whole world, it's particularly important to the future of our country.
Secretary Wolfowitz described the region as peaceful. But after a bilateral meeting with Indonesia he expressed disappointment that the conflict in Aceh had not been resolved peacefully.
PAUL WOLFOWITZ: I think it's very important in whatever Indonesia does militarily to keep in mind that the ultimate goal has to be a political solution and I think in that regard, and I said this to the minister, I think it would be very helpful if Indonesia would make sure that the actions of its forces are transparent.
MICHAEL DWYER: Australia's delegation is led by Defence Minister, Senator Robert Hill. At Friday's opening dinner, Senator Hill was seated between Secretary Wolfowitz and Singapore's Senior Minister, Lee Kuan Yew.
Singapore, like Australia, is an important US ally. But in his opening address, Lee reminded the Unites States with the need to act with sensitivity.
LEE KUAN YEW: If America does not cultivate its friends and allies with more tender loving care, coalitions of the willing may become smaller. Not to do so may persuade more nations that the way to restrain American unilateralism is to join a group of those opposed to it.
MICHAEL DWYER: A range of security issues, such as the Korean Peninsula, are on the agenda. But regional responses to terrorism are set to dominate proceedings.
Tim Huxley, Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
TIM HUXLEY: At one level the region may seem more dangerous because of the, the issue of terrorism which has come into prominence since the Bali attacks in October last year. But actually the issue of terrorism has been dealt with fairly effectively by governments in the region, with help from Australia and the Unites States and other partners from outside the region.
MICHAEL DWYER: Amnesty Internationals earlier this week released a report that suggested the war on terrorism has been a failure, specifically because it's created more division and fear in the world than there was before. Is there validity to Amnesty's point of view?
TIM HUXLEY: I think it's really overstating the case to say that the war on terrorism has made the world a more dangerous place, as Amnesty has argued this week. I think the real problem is that in too many cases, governments in South East Asia have used coercive instruments with perhaps insufficient discrimination and proportionality, and in the long-term that could create almost as many problems as it solves.
EDMOND ROY: Tim Huxley, from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, speaking with Michael Dwyer.
