CONFIDENTIAL
improvement in the situation in East Timor. That province was receiving a higher proportion of government aid than
any other. The Press were now allowed to visit. He and Mr Renton agreed that it was unfortunate that the Portuguese had declined to attend the EC/ASEAN meeting because of their sensitivities on the East Timor question.
MALAYSIA
12. Mr Renton said that we had been surprised by the extent of Mahathir's victory. Dr Sigur agreed. He thought that
despite increasing concern in the Chinese community, Mahathir
will now be able to sustain his position for the foreseeable future. He added that Shultz had met the Malaysian Foreign
Minister in New York and found him upset over the Asian Wall
Street Journal affair. The Foreign Minister had, however,
just attended a lunch with US businessmen and was evidently
pleased at the way he had handled questions from Wall Street Journal reporters. On the economy, Dr Sigur said that it would be premature to describe this as improving.
SINGAPORE
13.
Mr Renton said that it was remarkable how quickly the Singaporeans had diagnosed their economic problems and adopted changes. He had been impressed by the younger Lee, and by the fact that his father had been prepared to give him his head. Dr Sigur agreed. The US had certainly not foreseen
how quick the turn-around would be.
16 October 1986
CONFIDENTIAL