SCENESETTER FOR DPM WONG KAN SENG'S VISIT TO

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 SINGAPORE 000745 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR SECRETARY CHERTOFF AND CIA DEPUTY DIRECTOR KAPPES E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2017 TAGS: KCRM PTER SNAR KTFN ETTC EFIN KWMN SN SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR DPM WONG KAN SENG'S VISIT TO WASHINGTON REF: A. SINGAPORE 585 ¶B. SINGAPORE 536 ¶C. SINGAPORE 703 Classified By: Ambassador Patricia L. Herbold; reasons 1.4 (b)(d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs WONG Kan Seng is Singapore's key figure for domestic security, law enforcement, and intelligence cooperation. His April 19-22 visit to Washington and New York offers an excellent opportunity to expand the programmatic ties between the Department of Homeland Security and the Ministry of Home Affairs and to advance USG law enforcement, counterterrorism, and intelligence objectives with Singapore more broadly. The Ambassador discussed all these themes in her meeting with DPM Wong on March 23 (ref A),noting our appreciation for the strong cooperation we now enjoy and expressing our hope that we can elevate our law enforcement and intelligence cooperation to the same plane as our security and economic relationships. ¶2. (C) DPM Wong is scheduled to meet with DHS Secretary Chertoff and CIA Deputy Director Kappes separately in Washington on April 20. In addition to discussing specific programs and activities, we encourage DPM Wong's USG interlocutors to: -- Express appreciation for recent law enforcement cooperation efforts and note our desire to broaden our excellent bilateral relationship through even closer cooperation on law enforcement; -- Reiterate the value of concluding a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT); -- Welcome efforts to ensure that Singapore has the strongest possible anti-money laundering and countering the finance of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime; and -- Stress our interest in broadening our intelligence cooperation. In addition to Washington, DPM Wong will visit New York City to meet with NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly on April 19 and to participate in a Singapore Day event on April 21. End summary. S&T Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) -------------- ¶3. (SBU) DPM Wong's call on Secretary Chertoff follows up the Secretary's March 2006 visit to Singapore during which they signed the Letter of Intent on Cooperation in Science and Technology for Homeland/Domestic Security Matters. DPM Wong told the Ambassador he hopes to explore areas for cooperation under the ensuing MOA that DPM Wong recently signed. These could include cargo screening methods, checkpoints processing and biometrics identity verification technologies, and training for chem-bio first responders. Counterproliferation -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Our counterproliferation cooperation with Singapore, and the Immigration and Customs Authority (ICA) in particular, is growing. Key programs include the Container Security Initiative, Megaports, and the Proliferation Security Initiative. Singapore continues to tighten its export control regime and to support the important United Nations resolutions, including those directed at North Korea and Iran. At its initiative, Singapore signed on to the Secure Freight Initiative last December. DHS, DOE, and GOS officials met in March to discuss implementation by early ¶2008. However, the GOS and its government-linked port operator have recently raised new concerns, causing a delay that calls into question whether this target date can be met. Law Enforcement Cooperation -------------- ¶5. (C) Recent examples of excellent law enforcement cooperation include several investigations and interdictions SINGAPORE 00000745 002 OF 003 that DHS conducted with the Singapore Police Force and Singapore Customs, in particular those related to our counterproliferation efforts. Cooperation has also led to important successes working with third-countries to apprehend Singaporean drug couriers. Information shared between FBI and the Internal Security Department (ISD) resulted in the arrest of Singaporean members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) residing in Cairo; ISD also allowed FBI access to its JI detainees to gather testimony used in the trial of 9/11 defendant Zacarias Moussaoui. Since the Ambassador's calls on Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Law Jayakumar and DPM Wong, we have also seen movement recently on stalled drug forfeiture cases (ref B). ¶6. (SBU) But, although law enforcement cooperation with Singapore is good, it is still not as smooth or as automatic as it should be, given our shared objectives and close cooperation on strategic and economic issues. Singapore regularly shares information quietly through intelligence channels, but is less forthcoming through law enforcement channels, especially if the information might be used in a U.S. prosecution. We would like to expand our law enforcement information-sharing, particularly financial records data, the sharing of which now is usually limited to certain cases under our Drug Designation Agreement (DDA). DPM Wong told the Ambassador on March 23 that GOS agencies were doing all they could under Singapore law to provide our law enforcement agencies the financial information they request. Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty -------------- ¶7. (SBU) We want to conclude a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with Singapore. State and Justice attorneys have been working with the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) on an MLAT since 2003 and have identified several significant differences of approach. We have been waiting for over a year for Singapore's response to questions and issues raised at the last round of discussions. Although MHA defers to AGC on MLAT negotiations, DPM Wong told the Ambassador that MHA plays a key role in determining Singapore's position on several central MLAT issues such as dual criminality, the scope of crimes covered under a positive list, and standards for limitations on assistance. AML/CFT and Casinos -------------- ¶8. (SBU) With Singapore's growing status as a wealth management center and with the prospect of casino openings over the next three years, we have stepped up our campaign to encourage Singapore to strengthen its AML/CFT regime. The GOS has enacted a Casino Control Act and taken steps to bring its AML/CFT rules more into alignment with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. For example, in May 2006, MHA expanded its list of predicate offenses -- from 184 to 292 -- that can serve as the basis for money laundering or terrorist financing charges. New and revised regulations issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) governing banks and other financial institutions include important CFT-related requirements, in particular that financial institutions as of July 1, 2007 must begin collecting wire transfer originator information. FATF will begin its third Mutual Evaluation of Singapore with an on-site inspection in early September; we have recommended USG participation in this assessment (ref C). 9 (SBU) Singapore does not have a reporting requirement for cash couriers. MHA has the lead on drafting new legislation to govern them, but is still considering what system to adopt. FATF recommends either a declaration system similar to ours or disclosure system ("tell only if asked"). We have been urging Singapore to adopt the declaration system. DPM Wong told the Ambassador that he was concerned about the effect a declaration system, which would require everyone entering Singapore to fill out a form, might have on border control efficiency. ¶10. (SBU) MHA oversees the Casino Regulatory Authority, established in 2006 to lay the regulatory groundwork ahead of two multi-billion dollar casinos that will open in 2009 and ¶2010. DPM Wong indicated that he may want to seek Washington SINGAPORE 00000745 003 OF 003 interlocutors' views on organized crime's influence in the casino gaming sector. Intelligence Cooperation and Counterterrorism -------------- ¶11. (S) DPM Wong supports more intelligence cooperation with the United States; we would welcome opportunities to expand and enhance our collaboration and cooperation in this area. He has also played a prominent role in outreach to Singapore's Malay-Muslim community, urging moderates to speak out against extremists. In general our intelligence cooperation has been close. However, given the challenges both nations continue to face on counterterrorism and other issues, and in light of our common interests, the intelligence relationship could and should be even closer. Penal Code and TIP Provisions -------------- ¶12. (U) DPM Wong told the Ambassador that MHA would soon submit to Parliament a long list of proposed amendments to the Penal Code, with passage expected before year-end. The Penal Code is Singapore's primary criminal legislation and underwent its last major review in 1984. The proposed amendments include several important anti-trafficking-in-persons measures of interest to the USG, including provisions criminalizing prostitution involving a minor under 18 years of age; extending extra-territorial jurisdiction over Singaporeans engaged in child sex tourism; and making it a crime to organize or promote child sex tours. HSPD-6 -------------- ¶13. (SBU) The USG and GOS met in March to review progress toward a non-binding agreement to exchange terrorist lookout information under HSPD-6 (Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6). We want to move forward with full implementation while the GOS prefers to start with only a test exchange. Passport and Border Controls -------------- ¶14. (U) Singapore has highly effective and efficient border controls. It participates in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Singapore has fully implemented its biometric passport program. While Singapore shares lost and stolen passport information with us on a weekly basis, we remain concerned (as we do for all VWP countries) that alien smugglers might use lost or stolen Singaporean passports to smuggle people into the United States. DPM Wong told the Ambassador that the GOS was still assessing how to toughen its legislation to impose stiffer penalties on those who misuse their passport or allow others to do so. Biography -------------- ¶15. (C) Wong Kan Seng is Singapore's top law enforcement official and firmly controls its internal security apparatus. Both Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong have said publicly that Wong is a member of an inner circle of leaders chosen for their talent and integrity. He became Minister for Home Affairs in 1994 and Deputy Prime Minister in 2005. He has also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (1988-1994) and Community Development (1987-1991). He has been a member of the People's Action Party (PAP) Central Executive Committee since 1987 and its Second Assistant Secretary General since 1992. Wong graduated in 1964 from the Teachers' Training College and received a B.A. and a business administration diploma from the National University of Singapore in 1970 and 1977, respectively. He also holds an M.A. from the Graduate School of Business Studies in London (1979). Born on September 8, 1946, Wong is married and has two sons. HERBOLD