US embassy cable - 04RANGOON1269

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 001269 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, ECON, BM, SN 
SUBJECT: ALL SMILES: PM KHIN NYUNT'S TRIP TO SINGAPORE 
 
REF: RANGOON 1237 
 
Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
1. (C) Summary:  Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt made a 
recent trip to Singapore--part official, part medevac--in 
what the regime views as another successful effort to garner 
ASEAN support for the SPDC's road map to democracy.  End 
Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) On September 20 the COM and P/E chief called on the 
Singaporean Ambassador to Burma, Simon Tesning de Cruz, to 
discuss Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt's September 12-17 
trip to Singapore.  De Cruz joined the PM's high-level 
delegation for the trip, which included then-Foreign Minister 
Win Aung and sundry GOB senior officials, and participated in 
all official events during the visit.  (Comment: De Cruz said 
that Win Aung, who was sacked the day after his return to 
Rangoon (reftel), was noticeably "withdrawn and distracted" 
during the Singapore trip.  End Comment.) 
 
3. (C) According to de Cruz, General Khin Nyunt's primary 
reason for visiting Singapore was to undergo "keyhole 
surgery" to remove gall bladder stones (Note: The Burmese 
regime's official press did not address the medical aspects 
of the trip.  End Note).  However, Khin Nyunt also conducted 
official business, which included bilateral meetings with 
President Nathan, Prime Minister Lee, and Senior Minister 
Goh.  PM Lee also hosted an official dinner for Khin Nyunt 
and his entourage. 
 
4. (C) General Khin Nyunt stuck to carefully crafted talking 
points, said de Cruz, delivering a rote explanation of the 
SPDC's road map to democracy.  The Burmese PM was upbeat, 
describing the National Convention as "off to a good start," 
but acknowledged that discussions with the cease-fire ethnic 
groups were "delicate."  Khin Nyunt said that Aung San Suu 
Kyi (ASSK) and the NLD had refused to attend the Convention 
(which Khin Nyunt said will reconvene in January 2005) and 
"have been making problems ever since by discrediting the 
road map process."  De Cruz opined that Khin Nyunt's derisive 
comments about the NLD, including a threat "to do something 
about the party's contact with the ethnic groups," were an 
ominous sign that the SPDC is prepared to crack down further 
on the pro-democracy movement. 
 
5. (C) Khin Nyunt also made a pitch for an increase in 
Singaporean investment in Burma.  According to Ambassador de 
Cruz, Minister Goh replied that Singapore would like to 
support greater economic investment, but observed that 
regional competition and a poor business climate inside Burma 
would continue to impede would-be investors.  (Note: De Cruz 
said that about only 125 Singaporean investors currently 
operate in Burma, down from about 400 four years ago, and new 
investment has dwindled to less than USD six million per 
year.  End Note.) 
 
6. (C) Ambassador de Cruz said that senior GOS officials told 
Khin Nyunt that Singapore supported the SPDC's road map 
process, but urged the regime to develop a timeline and to be 
more inclusive, particularly by ensuring ASSK and NLD 
participation, in order for the international community, 
especially the United States and the EU, to view the results 
as credible.  PM Lee also told Khin Nyunt that the SPDC 
needed to work with the United Nations, particularly Special 
Envoy Razali. 
 
7. (SBU) Comment:  The regime gave standard, high-profile 
press coverage to Khin Nyunt's Singapore trip, highlighting 
photos of the smiling Prime Minister with his new Singaporean 
counterpart and emphasizing the latter's purported comments 
that Singapore "understands the challenges and problems" 
Burma faces with its democratization process.  Regardless of 
what was said behind closed doors, or even in a subsequent 
GOS statement in which PM Lee noted that he had raised 
international and regional concerns about the situation in 
Burma, Khin Nyunt and the SPDC view the trip as another 
successful effort to garner ASEAN support for the regime's 
road map.  Embassy Singapore observes that the visit, 
characterized by the GOS as a perfunctory introductory call, 
received minimal local press coverage and the GOS, in the 
absence of any agreements or real substance, would not share 
the Burmese regime's more glorified view of events.  End 
Comment. 
 
8. (U) This message has been coordinated with Embassy 
Singapore. 
Martinez