Office of the Historian

197. Memorandum of Conversation1

New York, October 1, 1977, 4:30–5 p.m.

SUBJECT

  • UNGA Bilateral Talks With Singapore Foreign Minister Sinnathamby Rajaratnam

PARTICIPANTS

  • Singapore

    • Sinnathamby Rajaratnam, Foreign Minister
    • Raymond Wong, First Secretary, Singapore UN Mission

  • United States

    • The Secretary
    • Philip C. Habib, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
    • Richard Holbrooke, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
    • Mark Easton, EA/TIMBS (notetaker)

The Secretary welcomed the Foreign Minister and stated that he was looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Lee on the 11th,2 and knew that the President also welcomed the visit.

The Secretary noted that reports of the ASEAN discussions had been given to him by Under Secretary Cooper,3 and Assistant Secretary Holbrooke and stated that we want to do what we can to support ASEAN.

In regard to the U.S. presence in Asia and the Pacific the Secretary stated that the U.S. intends to remain in Asia as he had previously outlined in his speech on Asia.4

He noted that Ambassador Newsom who has just arrived in Manila, will be continuing discussions with the Philippines in the near future regarding our bases there and that we hopefully will move forward. Assistant Secretary Holbrooke asked the Foreign Minister what his current thinking was re the US-ASEAN dialogue, noting that the Foreign Minister had characterized the US position as one looking at its own interests.

The Foreign Minister stated that he believed that we need a policy where U.S. global and ASEAN regional interests coincide. A new post-independence generation now exists in Asia, and it attributes national [Page 680] shortcomings to its own leaderships rather than to former colonial powers. Now each regime must deliver. The political rhetoric of the past is not sufficient to keep national leaders in office—you see this in India and Ceylon. The next phase will be devoted to economic development, and in recognition of this, ASEAN states are already slightly modifying their nationalism for economic benefits. But regionalism will not work unless it is coordinated with the larger world economy. ASEAN is committed to the non-communist part of the international economy, of which the U.S. is the biggest factor. ASEAN must now get the U.S. involved.

The Secretary asserted that U.S. global objectives do coincide with ASEAN’s and now we must consult with ASEAN to determine how we can help in a concrete fashion.

The Foreign Minister noted that in an earlier period Singapore had been interested in ASEAN primarily as a political shield, but that the emphasis had changed and Singapore was interested in U.S. assistance to regional projects. He noted that Japan was providing $1 billion for projects that were a) peaceful b) regional and c) endorsed by ASEAN. He suggested this could be the U.S. approach. The Secretary observed that both Under Secretary Cooper’s office and the Treasury were working on these issues.

When the Secretary asked the Foreign Minister’s views on Pakistan, he replied that it was an example of a post-independence generation taking over. There may be a succession of new faces. It is possible that none will have the stature to govern the country, and that leadership will pass from individuals to movements.

  1. Source: Department of State, Office of the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, 1976–1978, Lot 81D5, PCH Log, Sept 17, 1977 to October 31, 1977. Confidential. Drafted by Mark M. Easton (EA/TIMBS) on October 3; approved by Wisner on October 14. The meeting took place in the Secretary’s Suite at the One UN Plaza Hotel.↩
  2. See Document 199.↩
  3. See footnote 5, Document 196.↩
  4. See footnote 2, Document 196.↩