DEMARCHE DELIVERED: UPCOMING U.S. INITIATIVES AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 000408 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/RSP BLAIR HALL, S/CT DARCY ANDERSON, EAP/RSP KEVIN SHEIVES E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2018 TAGS: PREL PTER ARF TH SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: UPCOMING U.S. INITIATIVES AND ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH THE ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM (ARF) REF: STATE 08005 BANGKOK 00000408 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Political Officer Lisa Kaleczyc, reason 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Thailand shares the United States' interest in enhancing the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Secretariat and the need to more clearly define the mandate and focus of ARF, according to a key officer in the Thai MFA. Thailand seeks U.S. consideration and support for having the ASEAN Secretary General become a member of the ARF Secretariat for the Secretary General's five year term to provide institutional SIPDIS knowledge and support for ARF initiatives. Thailand supports the U.S. proposal for an ARF Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) Workplan in principle, but noted the importance of "cultural and civilization" approaches to address counterterrorism issues, as a dual-pronged strategy. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Having previously provided the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs International Organizations Department with a copy of U.S. comments on Singapore's draft "Review of the ARF" paper and draft ARF CTTC Workplan with accompanying non-paper, we called on First Secretary of the ASEAN Affairs Department, Jitvipa Benjasil, and junior colleague Piyapathu Ruktanonchai on February 7 and made the points in reftel. Piyapathu will attend the February 21-22 Inter-Sessional Meeting on CTTC in Indonesia with the Thai Foreign Ministry Deputy Director General and two other Ministry officials. (Despite Jitvipa's First Secretary rank, our impression from this meeting is that she has influence over the MFA's position on this matter.) ¶3. (C) With regards to Singapore's draft "Review of the ARF" and related comments by the United States, Jitvipa commented that an in-depth review of the ARF was necessary and appropriate, albeit difficult and time-consuming. Thailand agreed with the U.S. position that there was a need to more clearly define the mandate, purpose, and focus of the ARF, but noted the challenges of creating a vision statement acceptable to all ARF members. Jitvipa claimed that Thailand had not yet made a decision on the issue of delinking the ASEAN and ARF Chair positions, but agreed that the division of labor would allow the ARF Chair the ability to focus on ARF specific activity. Jitvipa advised that Thailand shared the United States' interest in enhancing the ARF Secretariat. Furthermore, noting the ARF Chair term of only one year, Jitvipa said Thailand sought U.S. consideration and support for the ASEAN Secretary General becoming a member of the ARF Secretariat for the Secretary General's five year term, to SIPDIS provide institutional knowledge and support for ARF initiatives. Although she did not comment directly, Jitvipa smiled and nodded accordingly when we discussed the proposed deletion of the verbiage which suggested non-ASEAN members should pay more for ASEAN participation in ARF activities. ¶4. (C) As for the U.S. proposed ARF CTTC Workplan, Jitvipa expressed support in principle for the CTTC Workplan and noted the ongoing importance of "hard" efforts such as intelligence sharing and law enforcement cooperation for regional security. While acknowledging the need for improved organization and focus of "hard" efforts, Jitvipa said Thailand could not disregard the importance of "soft" issues such as "cultural" and "civilization" based initiatives, particularly in light of the ongoing conflict in southern Thailand, to help address counterterrorism and security issues. Jitvipa believed the controversial Russian proposal on "cultural and civilization" endorsed at the previous meeting would continue to generate a good deal of discussion at the upcoming meeting. Jitvipa suggested a dual-pronged strategy would be most acceptable to all ARF members given the myriad views expressed during the last CTTC session. Jitvipa agreed that it made sense to focus ARF's "hard" initiatives to achieve better results and more cohesion among related entities. Jitvipa expressed support for both bio-defense and maritime issues as focus areas, and suggested that cyber-terrorism could be another option. Jitvipa noted the ongoing discussion about organizing an Inter-Sessional Meeting (ISM) specific to maritime issues. Jitvipa commented BANGKOK 00000408 002.2 OF 002 that it did not make sense for ARF to establish an ISM specific to maritime issues given the number of land-locked ARF members. Jitvipa believed focus on maritime issues under the U.S. CTTC Workplan may be a good compromise solution. ¶5. (C) Although supportive in general terms with the U.S. position, Jitvipa noted that there was much discussion needed among ARF members on issues associated with the delinking of the ASEAN and ARF Chairs, maritime ISM issue, and Shepherds Groups concepts. Jitvipa indicated that Thailand would make its final decisions after hearing the positions of other ARF members at upcoming ARF meetings. ¶6. (U) Embassy Bangkok's points of contact are Political Officer Lisa Kaleczyc and Mary-Gardner Coppola. JOHN