The Special Defense Dialogue Passes Both China and TheUnited Kingdom’s Multilateral Agreements

Credit: SDD Delegations Voting, Image by BBC

The Special Defense Dialogue has passed two Draft Multilateral Agreements (MA), one from the United Kingdom’s delegation and the other from the Chinese delegation. The French, Japanese and United Kingdom’s delegation MA on Terrorism had significant backing from the SDD. With the most notable portion of the MA being on establishing the Transnational Anti‐Radicalisation Framework (TARF).

“Iran does not support the TARF Framework, as it may be used to prosecute Iran and other states when we carry out justified operations,” said an Iranian Minister. This statement created a wave of concern, with some delegations furthering their support for TARF.

This led to Secretary David Lammy, in an exclusive interview with the BBC, responding to Iran’s statement. “TARF will be used appropriately and will not be used unless necessary. If Iran is scared of being prosecuted by TARF for its ‘justified operations,’ one wonders what operations Iran is planning?” Iran’s statement was made in reference to the Article on the TARF framework. Fundamentally, TARF defines dangerous content as information displaying or supporting extreme views, ideologies, or terrorist groups and activities. Furthermore, TARF states that dangerous content should either be blocked or labeled with a warning.

Lastly, part of the MA calls for the creation of another framework to investigate and prosecute

state-funded terrorism incidents, and this is what Iran is concerned about. Furthermore, civil servants and agents from participating countries can investigate alleged attacks based on evidence, as well as tips from agencies like INTERPOL for the provision of intelligence.

Meanwhile, a member of the French delegation also told the BBC that they were pleased that the United Kingdom’s Multilateral Agreement had passed. This is similar to the other statements from Boris Ruge, a delegate from NATO, as well as a member of the Japanese Delegation. However, there has been more backlash, “TARF’s Anti-Terrorist Hotline doesn’t make sense.” said Chinese Minister Wang Yi. The minister also shared his concerns over the effectiveness of an Anti-Terrorist Hotline. Wang Yi claims that TARF’s hotline can “easily be sabotaged”, and will rarely receive actual calls regarding suspected terrorism incidents.

Credit: Minister Wang Yi giving a speech, Image by BBC

At the same time, Wang Yi and the Chinese delegation’s Multilateral Agreement passed

during the voting. Despite initial concerns over the IRCC, amendments were introduced and

the IRCC eventually received support from some Western delegations, such as NATO.

“China is thankful that the SDD has passed DMAs promoting regional defense measures such as the IRCC and looks forward to a fruitful debate ahead. Regarding the UK’s DMA, we still prefer regional approaches that curb foreign intervention,” a member of the Chinese Delegation told the BBC.

These responses portray the current dynamics in the SDD, where a majority of countries have come to a common consensus on each other’s solution, but may only have minor concerns about certain clauses.

Western delegations are pleased to be moving on from the topic of terrorism, but some ministers have their concerns. Secretary Healey of the United Kingdom told the BBC that “With China’s DMA passing, the impact remains to be seen as many of the suggestions proposed seem to overlap with existing bodies. However, it seems China, through the IRCC, has strengthened its ties with ASEAN through this. We question whether the IRCC is a move to expand China’s influence in Southeast Asia and the South China sea.” While there is both criticism and praise for the passing of the multilateral agreements, many question the impact of the IRCC-TerrificSEA and TARF. Both DMAs have similar objectives, intelligence sharing, disrupting state-financed terrorism, and promoting close cooperation. The IRCC TerrificSEA will create a multi-layered platform to fight terrorism and state-funded terrorism. Through the IRCC’s ability to collate and pool funds to finance a joint platform for intelligence and data sharing, as well as establish an inter-regional research and surveillance authority.

Meanwhile, the UK’s DMA will encourage inter-regional cooperation between the G7 and

ASEAN delegations, strengthen the definitions on terrorism and encourage SDD members to cooperate and crack down on terrorism. The UK proposes a solution to ensure collaboration on terrorism whilst providing the platform for SDD states to work closely on other issues.

With the passing of the Multilateral Agreements concluding the theme of state-funded terrorism, the SDD will begin to debate the problems of insurgencies and proxy wars. This issue will need to be debated with quick speed, due to the pressing issue of ISIS restarting its campaign.

“The United Kingdom will never support or instigate an insurgency. We believe,” UK Secretary David Lammy. This highlights the tension between Western and asian delegations that is playing out in the SDD. As the SDD’s debate on proxy wars and insurgencies continues unfolding, the BBC will be constantly reporting on this rapidly developing situation. For more reporting on the SDD, follow BBC News.

Written by Tay Yong Le, Jomin Ng Min Rui, and Krishay Gautam Patel.