Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06SINGAPORE109
2006-01-17 04:39:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Singapore
Cable title:  

SEN. BAUCUS' MEETING WITH LEE KUAN YEW

Tags:  PREL PGOV PTER ECON SN 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 000109 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER ECON SN
SUBJECT: SEN. BAUCUS' MEETING WITH LEE KUAN YEW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 000109

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER ECON SN
SUBJECT: SEN. BAUCUS' MEETING WITH LEE KUAN YEW


1. (SBU) Summary: During a January 12 meeting with Senator
Max Baucus (D-MT),Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew discussed the
rise of China and its generally successful efforts to improve
ties with its neighbors. China's economic success had also
spurred reform in India; the only question now was how fast
India could go, commented Lee. Turning to Islamic terrorism
and Iraq, Lee stressed the importance of the United States'
prevailing in Iraq. A victory for the terrorists in Iraq
would embolden them and lead to a surge of terrorism around
the world and affect Singapore. End Summary.


2. (U) During his January 12-13 visit to Singapore, Senator
Max Baucus (D-MT),accompanied by the Ambassador, met with
Minister Mentor (MM) Lee Kuan Yew on January 12. Senate
Finance Committee staff members Brian Pomper and Demetrios
Marantis and poloff (notetaker) also attended the meeting.

China
--------------


3. (SBU) MM Lee Kuan Yew told the Senator that Singapore was
very conscious of sitting at the confluence of two big and
rising powers: China and India. China was focused on
economic growth and wanted to spend the next few decades
becoming a more prosperous and modern society. It did not
want to be sidelined by problems with its neighbors or the
United States. China had been working hard with its
neighbors, such as Russia and South Korea, to improve
relations, although it hadn't made any progress with Japan,
Lee remarked. He asserted that President Hu Jintao had
"given up" on Prime Minister Koizumi and was waiting for his
replacement, who could be "just as bad" from China's
perspective. China's leadership could not afford to let
Taiwan break away and seek independence. They were
confident, however, that growing economic integration and
greater personal contacts would ensure that Taiwan would
"come back" to China in 30-40 years.

U.S. Trade Deficit
--------------


4. (SBU) MM Lee noted that the United States' growing trade
deficit with China was a concern for both countries. China
was interested in gaining greater access to high technology
goods from the United States, which could reduce the deficit.
A revaluation of the renminbi of 5-10 percent would have

little practical impact, but would be psychologically good
for reducing trade tension. China was still not comfortable
making these types of monetary policy changes and was moving
cautiously, according to Lee. China knew it had to
strengthen its currency, but wanted to minimize any domestic
dislocations that would cause and any chance for speculators
to make a profit, he asserted.

North Korea
--------------


5. (SBU) Asked about China's influence over North Korea, MM
Lee responded that it was limited. China could deny North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il the food aid and energy supplies he
needs, but this would cause his regime to implode rather than
give up its only leverage -- its nuclear weapons program.
Then, China would end up with "South Korea and the United
States on the Yalu River." China would like a non-nuclear
but independent North Korean state.

India
--------------


6. (SBU) MM Lee lamented that he had been disappointed many
times in the past with India's failure to open up its economy
to the outside world. China's tremendous economic success
and a fear of being left behind, however, had spurred India
to act. Now, there was a consensus across the political
spectrum in India on the need for more reform. The only
question was how fast India could go. Given India's poor
infrastructure and the difficulty in overcoming old mind
sets, it could only reach 60-80 percent of China's growth
rate. Nevertheless, there was nothing that China was doing
economically that India couldn't do as well, he said.

Islam and Iraq
--------------


7. (SBU) Senator Baucus asked MM Lee about how the West
should deal with Islam and jihadists. Lee responded that he
had been concerned about this for many years, even before
9-11. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was not the cause of
Islamic terrorism, according to MM Lee. Rather, among
Muslims, especially in the Middle East, there was a profound
belief that "their time has come" and the West has put them
down for too long. While pan-Arab nationalism failed to
unite the Muslim world in the 1950s and 1960s, Islamic fervor
has become an alternative unifying force. Furthermore, Arab
oil wealth had affected Muslims in Southeast Asia through
funding for mosques and educational exchanges, he averred.
This had led to increased religious fervor among Southeast
Asia's Muslims.


8. (SBU) The recent wave of terrorism will ebb, as long as
the terrorists don't win in Iraq, MM Lee stated. If they do
win, there will be a surge of terrorism around the world and
"I'll have my Jemaah Islamiya chaps coming from Indonesia to
blow me up." He suggested that the Sunnis faced two choices
in Iraq. They could work within the framework established by
the United States of one man, one vote. While this would
reduce the power they historically wielded, they might be
willing to accept it if the United States could guarantee
their access to at least 20 percent of Iraq's oil wealth and
maintain forces in the region to assure compliance.
Alternatively, they could reject the U.S. model and the
country would be plunged into chaos and warring militias. It
was important for the United States to prevail in Iraq and
leave only once a functioning government was in charge of a
unified state, he stressed.
HERBOLD