TNAG-0025-FCO40-61-Relations-with-other-countries-in-South-East-Asia-1968 — Page 22

CONFIDENTIAL

SECRETARY

OF

-2-

STATE

3.

On the question of any military threat, the Defence Secretary said that there was no evidence that the Chinese were building a large Navy and the naval threat would seem to be small, taking into account the US Base in the Philippines. However, HMG did not propose to seek to retain any extra territorial rights in the Naval Base and he thought that there was now a slightly greater possibility that Australia might be interested in continuing to use some of the naval facilities in Singapore. Any such development might subsequently bring with it renewed American interest.

4. In reply to a query from The Tunku that decisions had been taken to hand over the whole of the Naval Base to Swan & Hunters, it was pointed out that it was the dockyard which was being handed over in this way. Adjacent to the dockyard was a Naval Base and the future of these military facilities was for discussion by the Naval Sub Group which had been charged at the recent Five Power Conference to continue work and to prepare recommendations for the next ministerial meeting. The Defence Secretary confirmed to The Tunku that Malaysia was represented on this Sub Group and he suggested that signs that Singapore and Malaysia were working together might well encourage the Australian Government to consider more favourably seeking facilities in the base.

5. The Tunku reverted to his general point that while he did not consider that China would have the strength for direct invasion, he was more concerned about infiltration and he thought that the dockyard offered the easiest way of infiltrating hundreds of men into Singapore. The Chief of Defence Staff pointed out that the dockyard itself offered no particular advantages: there were unlimited opportunities to infiltrate throughout the whole of the Singapore harbour provided of course that the Singapore Government itself was prepared to permit this.

6. In conclusion The Tunku said that he had had what he would term an obsession about the dockyard in recent weeks and he was glad to be reassured that the future of the Naval Base was separate from that of the dockyard and that there was opportunity to discuss its control in the Five Power Sub Group. The Defence Secretary undertook to inform the C.in C. Far East of the interest of the Malaysian Government in the workings of the Naval Sub Group.

Secretary of State's Office.

1 July 1968.