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ANY SINGAPOREAN CONTRIBUTION WOULD HAVE TO BE PART OF A UN RATHER THAN UK OR UK EFFORT. HE ASKED WHETHER WE HAD YET APPROACHED OTHER ASEAN COUNTRIES.
4 I SAID THAT MY OWN CALL CONSTITUTED PART OF A WORLWIDE BRITISH LOBBYING EXERCISE ALTHOUGH I DID NOT YET KNOW WHICH OTHER COUNTRIES HAD SOUNDED. MY GUESS WAS THAT WE HAD NOT YET APPROACHED OTHER ASEAN POWERS BUT WOULD CERTAINLY BE GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THOSE COUNTRIES WHICH SEEMED TO US CAPABLE OF MAKING A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION BOTH BY VIRTUE OF THEIR RELATIVE WEALTH AND THE FACT THAT THEIR ECONOMY HAD NOT YET BEEN BADLY DAMAGED AS A RESULT OF EG, THE NEED TO REPATRIATE NATIONALS STRANDED IN IRAQ OR KUWAIT. SUNG AGREED THAT SINGAPORE WAS NOT A POOR COUNTRY, BUT SHE WAS EQUALLY NOT IN THE SAME LEAGUE AS THE EUROPEAN STATES AND DID NOT WISH TO BE CLASSED AS ONE OF THE WORLD'S RICHER COUNTRIES. THIS WAS, HE SAID A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE FOR SINGAPORE.
5. I REPLIED THAT IT WAS, OF COURSE, FOR THE SINGAPOREANS TO DECIDE ON HOW THEY SHOULD RESPOND. BUT THERE WERE MANY WAYS OF PROVIDING PRACTICAL HELP. I INSTANCED BRITISH AIRWAYS DECISION TO MAKE TWO AIRCRAFT AVAIALBLE TO ASSIST WITH THE REPATRIATION OF REFUGEES
FROM JORDAN. I ALSO CITED NEW ZEALAND'S PROVISION OF A C130 TO FLY MILK POWDER TO JORDAN, THE AIRCRAFT THEN RETURNING WITH A LOAD OF REPATRIATED FILIPINOS TO MANILA. SUNG SEEMED INTERESTED AND ASKED A NUMBER OF PRACTICAL QUESTIONS TO WHICH I DID MY BEST TO RESPOND. (GRATEFUL FOR ANY AVAILABLE BACKGROUND ON THE PROVISION
OF AIRCRAFT AND ANY REFUELLING DIFFICULTIES WHICH MIGHT HAVE ARISEN DURING THEIR DEPLOYMENT.)
6. SUNG CONCLUDED BY SAYING THAT THE SINGAPOREANS WOULD NOW REFLECT ON BOTH THE US AND OUR OWN REQUEST. I SAID THAT I HOPED THE PROCESS OF CONSIDERATION WOULD NOT TAKE TOO LONG AND THAT THE SINGAPOREANS WOULD MAKE AN EARLY AND POSITIVE DECISION. I MEANWHILE
STOOD READY TO PROVIDE ANY ADDIDTIONAL INFORMATION WHICH THEY MIGHT NEED.
COMMENT
7. THE SINGAPOREANS ARE TYPICALLY TRYING TO SUGGEST RELATIVE
INDIGENCE WHILE IN REALITY BEING PERFECTLY WELL ABLE TO PROVIDE A MAJOR FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION IF THEY WISH TO DO SO. BUT DESPITE THIS PREDICTABLE RELUCTANCE I BELIEVE THAT THEY WILL DECIDE TO HELP PROBABLY, AT LEAST INITIALLY, ON A RELATIVELY MODEST SCALE, IF THEY ARE CONFIDENT THAT EG MALAYSIAN AND INDONESIAN SENSITIVITIES CAN BE MET. (THEY ARE PARTICULARLY CONCERNED NOT TO REINFORCE
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