(C) Secretary Clinton's November 14, 2009,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PARTO 112706 (Note: the unique message record number (MRN) has been modified. The original MRN was 09 PARTO 000006, which duplicates a previous PARTO telegram number.) E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2019 TAGS: OVIP CLINTON HILLARY PREL PGOV PARM KNNP ETTC, SG SUBJECT: (C) Secretary Clinton's November 14, 2009, Conversation with Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo PARTO 00000006 001.3 OF 003 ¶1. (U) Classified by: Kin Moy, Deputy Executive Secretary, S/ES, Department of State. Reason 1.4.(d). ¶2. (U) November 14, 2009; 10:15 a.m.; Singapore. ¶3. (U) Participants: U.S. The Secretary Charge Dan Shields Lieutenant General Paul Selva DAS Scot Marciel Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin Deputy Chief of Staff Jake Sullivan Senior Advisor Philippe Reines Mary-Gardner Coppola (Notetaker) SINGAPORE Foreign Minister George Yeo Singapore Ambassador to the U.S. Chan Heng Chee Deputy Secretary for Asia Pacific Chua Siew San Americas Director Ng Teck Hean ASEAN Director Kwok Fook Seng Special Assistant Francis Goh Americas Assistant Director Jasmine Tan (Notetaker) ¶4. (C) SUMMARY. Singaporean FM Yeo said people in the region were "sitting up and taking notice" of strong efforts by Secretary Clinton and the United States Government to deepen U.S. engagement with Asia. At a meeting on the margins of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meetings in Singapore, the Secretary told FM Yeo that the United States recognized Singapore's significant work on nonproliferation and encouraged Singapore to take a more proactive role on non-proliferation with regard to Burma, North Korea, and Iran. The Secretary requested the FM's views on the evolving regional architecture. FM Yeo said the most important regional institution is APEC. He stressed the need for balance in the region as China rises, with APEC, China's favored ASEAN-Plus-3, the East Asian Summit, and other regional arrangements all playing a role. He expressed concern that Australia's Asia Pacific Community proposal did not give enough weight to ASEAN. He noted that India should play a bigger regional role, but cautioned that expanding APEC to include India and others in the future could make APEC too big to function effectively. The Secretary noted U.S. engagement with Burma and urged that Singapore and ASEAN do more to promote political dialogue in the lead- up to Burma's 2010 elections. END SUMMARY. -------------- NONPROLIFERATION COOPERATION -------------- ¶5. (C) FM Yeo said people in the region were "sitting up and taking notice" of strong efforts by Secretary Clinton and the United States Government to deepen U.S. engagement with Asia. The Secretary, after sharing impressions from her trip to the Philippines, expressed appreciation to FM Yeo for Singapore's leadership within the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) and asked how the United States could work with ASEAN and APEC to advance counterproliferation efforts. FM Yeo offered the example of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (SEANWFZ) as a regional effort worth supporting. He said there had been discussion in the region of the possibility of the United States' joining SEANWFZ, with the clear understanding that this would not affect any transit of naval ships. The key is to keep any Southeast Asian nation from seeking nuclear weapons, he said. FM Yeo said the Burmese leaders deny seeking nuclear weapons. The Secretary said the United States has seen disturbing indications that Burma was working with North Korea to begin to develop capabilities PARTO 00000006 002.3 OF 003 associated with nuclear weapons. ¶6. (C) Turning to the situation in Iran, the Secretary said the United States had worked hard to secure Russia's support within the P5+1 to present Iran with the proposal to process its uranium outside the country. While Iran had accepted the proposal in principle, it had not yet agreed to implementation and Iran's internal debate seemed to be continuing. The Secretary asked that Singapore urge Iran to meet its international obligations. This was an issue that had the potential to destabilize the already troubled Middle East, she emphasized, in that Iran's possession of nuclear weapons could cause a domino effect in the region that would be difficult to control. Malaysia would be the next chair of the IAEA, and it would be important for Malaysian leaders to call for an end to nuclear proliferation. The Secretary urged Singapore to reach out to its Malaysian neighbors, both bilaterally and through ASEAN, to emphasize the importance of the IAEA as an operational institution with real teeth. FM Yeo said Malaysian PM Najib understood what Malaysia needed to do on this issue. -------------- DEVELOPMENTS IN REGIONAL ARCHITECTURE -------------- ¶7. (C) The Secretary elicited the FM's views on how the United States could best sustain and enhance its regional engagement and participation in the emerging regional architecture. FM Yeo said the most important regional institution was APEC, which was developing a good culture of cooperation and was moving in the right direction. China recognized APEC's importance, which was why China sent President Hu Jintao to APEC but not to other regional gatherings. FM Yeo stressed the importance of member economies' maintaining their commitment to APEC, particularly as world trade and development increasingly becomes Asia Pacific-centric. He stressed the need for balance in the region as China rises, with APEC, China's favored ASEAN+3, the East Asian Summit (EAS),and other regional arrangements all playing a role. The Secretary stated that it was not surprising that much of the discussion about regional architecture focused on the rise of China. However, it was important to ensure that regional dynamics incorporates checks and balances that promote accountability and transparency, she said. ¶8. (C) FM Yeo said most countries in the region, including China, appreciated the need for regional balance. He expressed concern, however, over how to balance China's increasingly influential position. The Chinese were skilled, he said, at using economics and trade to advance political objectives. China's long- term focus was on the ASEAN+3 concept, which includes China, Japan, and Korea. Japan and the ROK seemed increasingly prepared, given their major economic interests in China, to focus on that approach. No one in Southeast Asia, however, wanted to see China as the only big player on the scene, he said. This is why ASEAN continued to focus on ensuring the United States, India, the EU, Australia, and others remained engaged in the region, he said. The EAS, which incorporates India, Australia and New Zealand, provided some balance. Unfortunately, stated Yeo, Australian PM Rudd did not, at least initially, see the importance of maintaining and consolidating these existing structures. Regarding PM Rudd's proposal for an Asia Pacific Community, FM Yeo indicated that Singapore and many of its neighbors did not appreciate the fact that the concept as initially articulated, excluded ASEAN, except for Indonesia. ¶9. (C) On India, the Secretary observed that Prime Minister Singh had worked very hard to have India assume PARTO 00000006 003.2 OF 003 a leadership position on the international stage, but it would require significant changes within the Indian bureaucracy before India broke out of its traditional role as the voice of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). She noted that it was harder for India, with its commendable focus on democracy and economic development, to step forward as a world leader than it was for China, whose leaders were unencumbered by the concerns of a pluralistic society. FM Yeo agreed and stated that Singapore viewed India's resource-constrained Foreign Service as severely hampering the country's ability to assume more of a leadership position. ¶10. (C) FM Yeo acknowledged the increasingly important role that India occupied within the region, but expressed skepticism about the prospect of India's being invited to join APEC in the future. APEC had never brought on new members one at a time, said FM Yeo, and the non-APEC members of ASEAN, as well as additional Latin American countries like Colombia, had expressed interest in APEC membership. Singapore's preference was to consolidate the current APEC agenda, which, while not perfect, was the region's best chance for building institutions that promoted regional integration. FM Yeo believed that if APEC were enlarged, instead of deepened, the organization could become too unwieldy and this would distract from efforts to ensure that China played by the rules. ¶11. (C) FM Yeo suggested that, when the United States hosts APEC in 2011, Washington should consider building on the precedent of the existing Foreign Ministers' breakfast to expand activities by the APEC Foreign Ministers. The Secretary said the United States would consider the suggestion. The implicit idea, said Yeo, was that by expanding the role of Foreign Ministers, APEC could take on important political issues in the region without running up against China's sensitivities about involving Hong Kong and Taiwan in international political discussions. -------------- BURMA -------------- ¶12. (C) The Secretary noted the United States' recent efforts to engage the Burmese senior leadership. She encouraged Singapore to urge Burma's leaders to hold elections that could be deemed credible by the international community, and to initiate a domestic dialogue with key players toward that end. During Assistant Secretary Campbell's and Deputy Assistant Secretary Marciel's trip to Burma November 3-5, they had passed the message that the United States was ready to support trade and development with Burma, but that the Burmese generals must reciprocate with tangible progress. Aung San Suu Kyi is determined to find a way forward, the Secretary said. ¶13. (C) The Secretary recognized that behind the scenes Singapore has pressed the regime on the importance of reform, but Thailand and Indonesia had been much more vocal on the matter of late. She added that Indonesia, which has a big stake in the future of Burma, is keen to mentor the Burmese on the value of a military transition, based on Indonesia's own experience. The Secretary urged Singapore and ASEAN to do more. Yeo confirmed that Singapore would continue to encourage the Burmese leadership along the path of reform and would hold them accountable for the elections. ¶14. (C) As the meeting concluded, FM Yeo requested that the United States consider supporting Singapore's request to become a formal member of the G-20 grouping. CLINTON