Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06SINGAPORE725
2006-03-09 04:59:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Singapore
Cable title:  

SCENESETTER FOR SECRETARY CHERTOFF'S VISIT TO

Tags:  PTER PREL ETRD KCRM EFIN SN 
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VZCZCXRO2980
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHGP #0725/01 0680459
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 090459Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9078
RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2110
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1600
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 3822
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5285
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 1260
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 5956
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 6351
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SINGAPORE 000725 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

FOR SECRETARY CHERTOFF FROM AMBASSADOR HERBOLD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PREL ETRD KCRM EFIN SN
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR SECRETARY CHERTOFF'S VISIT TO
SINGAPORE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SINGAPORE 000725

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

FOR SECRETARY CHERTOFF FROM AMBASSADOR HERBOLD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PREL ETRD KCRM EFIN SN
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR SECRETARY CHERTOFF'S VISIT TO
SINGAPORE


1. (SBU) I warmly welcome your March 28-30 visit to Singapore
and look forward to introducing you to Singapore's
leadership. The bilateral relationship is at an historic
high point and your visit offers tremendous opportunities to
move it further forward, particularly in law enforcement
cooperation, trade security, money laundering/terrorist
finance controls, and counterterrorism. The other U.S.
Ambassadors to Southeast Asian countries and I are confident
that our roundtable with you will show us ways to strengthen
further the positive and multifaceted working relationships
between the Department of Homeland Security and our missions
in the field.

Singapore Leadership
--------------


2. (SBU) Singapore's senior leadership highly values the
U.S.-Singapore relationship and is pleased that you have
chosen to stop here. You will meet with all the top leaders:
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Senior Minister Goh Chok
Tong, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng, and Deputy Prime
Minister and Co-Ordinating Minister for Security and Defence

S. Jayakumar. Important messages for your calls are:
encouraging Singapore to deepen our law enforcement
cooperation and share financial information; noting our
interest in working together to improve trade security and
strengthen Singapore's anti-money laundering and terrorist
finance controls; and thanking Singapore for its
counterterrorism cooperation.

-- PM Lee has been in office for more than a year and a half
after 14 years as Deputy Prime Minister. He will be
interested in discussing the terrorist threat and U.S.
engagement with the rest of the region. He may be on the
verge of calling an early election, which he will win
handily.

-- SM Goh was Prime Minister from 1990-2004. An affable but
firm leader, he is a strong supporter of close ties with the
United States and views our regional presence as essential to
peace and security. Goh is concerned about the rise of
radical Islam in Southeast Asia and encourages moderates to

stand up.

-- MM Lee is modern Singapore's founding father (as well as
father of PM Lee Hsien Loong) and was Prime Minister for over
three decades. He will engage in a strategic review of
terrorism, regional developments, and the rise of China.

-- DPM Wong, your counterpart, has a strong law and order
reputation and a firm grasp on the internal security
agencies. He will want to discuss counter-terrorism and law
enforcement cooperation, as well as the implications of
opening casinos here in 2009.

-- DPM Jayakumar oversees GOS efforts to improve inter-agency
coordination to deal with the terrorist threat in Singapore.

Strategic Partners, not Allies
--------------


3. (SBU) Our excellent relationship with Singapore is founded
on a convergence of views on key strategic issues and
substantial trade and investment ties. Singapore views a
strong U.S. diplomatic, military, and economic presence in
the region as essential to regional peace and prosperity.
Singapore is a valuable logistics hub for U.S. forces and
seeks greater interoperability with us, highlighted by its
recent selection of the F-15SG for its Next Generation
Fighter. To expand our strong security ties, President Bush
and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong signed the Strategic
Framework Agreement (SFA) last July. As with our two-year
old Free Trade Agreement (FTA),the SFA is designed to make a
good relationship even better. To preserve its autonomy and
credibility with its neighbors, however, Singapore limits its
closeness to us. It specifically does not want to be a
treaty ally: our military leases facilities from the GOS --
there are no U.S. "bases" on the island.


SINGAPORE 00000725 002 OF 003


Terrorism
--------------


4. (SBU) The GOS's greatest fear is a terrorist attack in
Singapore -- a trophy target -- due to the economic damage it
would cause and the impact on race relations in this
multi-ethnic society. Singapore has been a reliable and
highly capable partner in the Global War on Terrorism. In
2001, the GOS uncovered a plot by Jemaah Islamiya to bomb
targets in Singapore, including this mission. Singapore
continues to view itself as a high-profile terrorist target
and the GOS regularly warns its citizens that a terrorist
attack is inevitable. Singapore's leaders are concerned
about the growth of radical Islam in Southeast Asia and the
long-term threat to secular authority in neighboring
countries.

Law Enforcement Cooperation
--------------


5. (SBU) Law enforcement cooperation is good, but could be
much better. We want to conclude a Mutual Legal Assistance
Treaty (MLAT) to raise our cooperation to a level
commensurate with our close ties and Singapore's status as a
highly-developed economy and important financial center.
Singapore is willing to share information quietly through
intelligence channels, but is much less forthcoming through
law enforcement channels. The GOS does not want information
it provides to become public, such as in a U.S. court
proceeding. Singapore has statutory restrictions on sharing
data from financial records, which hinders cooperation with
the USG. We are working to address shortcomings in
Singapore's anti-money laundering and terrorist finance
controls. These issues will be even more important once
casinos open in 2009. DPM Wong will be responsible for
casino regulation.

Border Controls
--------------


6. (SBU) As you will see when you visit the Immigration and
Checkpoints Authority operations at Woodlands Checkpoint,
Singapore has effective and efficient border controls. It is
a leader in adopting high-tech solutions for cargo and
passenger screening and is in the forefront for biometric
passports. Singapore is strengthening its legislation to
prosecute citizens who misuse their passports for alien
smuggling or other purposes. The GOS is evaluating our
proposal to share terrorist lookout information under
Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6. The GOS has been
working with Interpol and the embassy to develop mechanisms
for sharing Lost and Stolen Passport (LASP) information.

Trade Security and Non-Proliferation
--------------


7. (SBU) Singapore strongly supports the United States,
global non-proliferation agenda and trade security
initiatives. It was the first country in the region to join
the Container Security Initiative and the Megaports
Initiative, and participates enthusiastically in the
Proliferation Security Initiative. Singapore recognizes its
own interests in controlling trade in dangerous goods, and in
2003 it instituted a new strategic goods control law that
imposes controls on a range of sensitive goods and
technology, including transshipment cargoes. Since the
passing of the law, bilateral cooperation on
counterproliferation has improved, and Singapore has made an
effort to improve its own enforcement efforts through
strengthened regulations, extensive training for its customs
and checkpoints officials, and cooperation with other
countries, including the United States.


8. (U) While these measures are a vast improvement, the legal
framework provided by Singapore's strategic goods control law
still falls short of international best practices and has
hindered efforts to improve law enforcement cooperation on
proliferation matters. Singapore does not yet adhere to key
multilateral control regimes such as the Missile Technology
Control Regime and the Australia Group, and only controls a

SINGAPORE 00000725 003 OF 003


subset of the items covered by these regimes. Singapore also
does not collect manifest data on transshipment (80 percent
of the containers passing through the port) or transit
shipments, unless they are bound for the United States.


9. (SBU) Singapore acknowledges these weaknesses, and in
October 2005, the United States and Singapore held a
bilateral dialogue on improving our counterproliferation
cooperation. As a result, we have agreed to pursue an
aggressive training program for Singapore Customs and
security officials aimed at improving their ability to
understand, recognize, and control strategic goods.
HERBOLD