SCENESETTER FOR YOUR VISIT TO SINGAPORE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 003538 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR THE PRESIDENT FROM AMBASSADOR HERBOLD E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON ETRD SN SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR YOUR VISIT TO SINGAPORE Classified By: Patricia L. Herbold. Reasons 1.4 (c)(d) ¶1. (C) Mr. President, I warmly welcome your November 16-17 visit to Singapore. The U.S.-Singapore bilateral relationship is at an historic high point. Your visit and the major policy address you will deliver here signal the importance we attach to ties with both Singapore and the broader Southeast Asia region. Your visit also offers an opportunity to: -- reinforce our strong security and economic ties with Singapore, -- underscore with interlocutors our engagement in and commitment to Southeast Asia, -- exchange perspectives with a close regional strategic partner, and -- accelerate progress toward greater bilateral law enforcement and intelligence cooperation. Strategic Partners, not Allies -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Our excellent relationship with Singapore is founded on a convergence of views on key strategic issues and on substantial trade and investment ties. With its acute sense of vulnerability, Singapore views a strong U.S. diplomatic, military, and economic presence in the region as essential to its own and the region's peace and prosperity. Singapore pursued both our 2004 Free Trade Agreement and our 2005 Strategic Framework Agreement in part to anchor us in the region. ¶3. (C) Singapore is a valuable logistics hub for U.S. forces, supports Coalition forces in Iraq, and is finalizing plans to support a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. However, Singapore worries about sensitivities in its Muslim-majority neighborhood and seeks to undertake such activities with a minimal profile. Singapore is not a treaty ally. Our military leases its facilities here; there are "places, not bases" on the island. Regional Issues -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, like his father Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, is a keen observer and will welcome a discussion of key regional developments: the resurgence of China and India, North Korea's nuclear brinkmanship, and relations with the Muslim world. PM Lee may note that China's astute diplomacy is winning it friends in the region; he recently returned from a trip to China to commemorate 15 years of ties between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China. ¶5. (C) Singapore strongly condemned North Korea's nuclear test, which it sees as a serious threat to regional stability. It helped track and took steps to deny services to the first suspect North Korean ship to pass through the Strait of Singapore following UN Security Council Resolution ¶1718. Prime Minister Lee sees success in Iraq and the broader Middle East as an imperative - not just to bring peace to that region but also to deflate extremists in Southeast Asia. Singapore welcomes recent initiatives to reinvigorate U.S. ties to ASEAN as reassurance that we will remain robustly engaged in the region. Law Enforcement and Terrorism -------------- ¶6. (C) We work with Singapore on a broad range of law enforcement issues. However, our cooperation should be better, given our shared goals and Singapore's highly developed economy and status as a regional financial center. Singapore's reluctance to share information, especially financial data, stems from its stringent bank secrecy laws and highly restrictive Official Secrets Act. ¶7. (C) Singapore worries deeply about a domestic terrorist attack, due to the potential consequences for the economy and race relations in this multi-ethnic society. Singapore is a reliable and highly capable partner in the Global War on SINGAPORE 00003538 002 OF 002 Terrorism. It is frequently the first in the region to adopt our CT initiatives. While Singapore is eager to receive U.S. intelligence, it can be slow to share information when it does not see a direct benefit to itself. Domestic Scene -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) has held power since 1959 and won another landslide victory in the May parliamentary elections. It has an enviable record of delivering peace and prosperity for over four decades and enjoys broad popular support. At the same time, the PAP regularly resorts to hardball tactics to cripple the opposition and uses defamation suits and a web of legislation to restrict political speech and freedom of assembly. Fundamental change toward a more democratic system is unlikely until the current generation of leaders passes from the scene. Speaking to the Region -------------- ¶9. (C) Singapore's relations with its Malay-Muslim majority neighbors can be testy. The focus of your remarks on big-picture, upbeat and future-oriented themes involving our partnership with Asia will resonate well in Singapore and throughout the region. This focus will ensure your message is not filtered through regional perceptions of Singapore and the differences between Singapore and its neighbors on race, religion and confronting extremism. Delivering your remarks from a world class educational institution in the center of Southeast Asia will underscore that the region matters, and that we intend to be part of its future. That is always music to regional ears. HERBOLD