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ACTION EA-09
INFO OCT-01 EUR-12 ISO-00 PM-04 NSC-05 SP-02 SS-15 CIAE-00
INR-07 NSAE-00 DODE-00 /055 W
--------------------- 101161
R 300802Z JAN 76
FM AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 4467
INFO AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
CINCPAC
AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
AMEMBASSY MANILA
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
C O N F I D E N T I A L SINGAPORE 0507
CINCPAC FOR POLAD
E.O. 11652: GDS
TAGS: PFOR US, SN, UR
SUBJECT: SINGAPORE PRIME MINISTER ON "BUYING INSURANCE"
1. 1. WHAT I CONSIDER AN INTERESTING AND RATHER SIGNIFICANT
VIGNETTE ON SINGAPORE FOREIGN POLICY OCCURRED JANUARY 29
DURING AIRPORT DEPARTURE CEREMONY FOR PRESIDENT AND MRS.
MARCOS. JUST AS MARCOS AIRCRAFT WERE TAXIING AWAY BUT
BEFORE CEREMONY BROKE UP PM LEE KUAN YEW STROLLED OVER TO
LINEUP OF FOREIGN DIPLOMATS, AND AFTER HAVING RATHER CON-
SPICUOUSLY CHATTED IN MALAY WITH MALAYSIAN HIGH COMMISSIONER
YUSSOF, HE APPROACED MY SOVIET COLLEAGUE AND ME. I AM
RANKED IMMEDIATELY AFTER AMBASSADOR RAZDUKHOV IN
PROTOCOL ORDER, AND THE PM ACCORDINGLY DREW US BOTH
INTO THE ENSUING CONVERSATION.
2. SPEAKING IN MANDARIN, PM LEE FIRST WISHED RAZDUKHOV
A HAPPY NEW YEAR AND ME A HAPPY TWO-HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE US. THEN, SWITCHING TO ENGLISH, HE TOLD US
THAT HE WAS "BUYING INSURANCE" FROM BOTH OUR COUNTRIES.
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IN THE CASE OF THE SOVIET UNION, HE SAID, HE DREW ON
THE SOVIET SHIPPING COMPANY AND THE LOW PRICES IT
CHARGES TO COUNTER HIGHER RATES OF THE MAJOR SHIPPING
COMPANIES. (SINGAPORE AND THE USSR PARTICIPATE IN A
JOINT SHIPPING COMPANY, SOSIAC, WHICH IN FACT HANDLES
A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF SINGAPORE'S EXPORTS BECAUSE
ITS RATES UNDERCUT THOSE OF THE PACIFIC CONFERENCE.)
AS FAR AS THE US WAS CONCERNED, HE CONTINUED, "I KEEP
YOU AROUND IN CASE THERE IS TROUBLE IN THIS PART OF THE
WORLD."
3. PM LEE'S REMARKS IN A WAY CAPSULIZE SINGAPORE
POLICY TOWARD THE US AND USSR. THE SOIETS ARE HERE,
AND ARE A FACTOR IN GOS POLICY, ALBEIT A NEGATIVE
FACTOR AS WE KNOW FROM THE SUSPICIONS OF SOVIET MOTIVES
VOICED TO US BY VARIOUS SENIOR GOS PERSONALITIES.
HOWEVER, SINCE THEY ARE INDEED HERE, THEIR PRESENCE
AND LOCALLY ESTABLISHED INSTITUTIONS MIGHT AS WELL
BE PUT TO THE GREATEST ECONOMIC USE POSSIBLE, E.G.
IN HELPING TO PROVIDE THE GOS WITH ECONOMIC LEVERAGE
AGAINST PRICES SET BY COMPETING FOREIGH COMMERCIAL
INTERESTS. AS FOR THE US, WE REMAIN A USEFUL MILITARY
COUNTERWEIGHT AGAINST POSSIBLE PRESSURES FROM MAJOR
EXTERNAL FORCES, INCLUDING THE USSR. INCIDENTALLY,
WHILE MY SOVIET COLLEAGUE SPEAKS MANDARIN, I AM NOT
SURE HOW MUCH ENGLISH HE UNDERSTANDS, AND HE MAY HAVE
MISSED THE THRUST OF PM LEE'S REMARKS.
HOLDRIDGE
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