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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3281
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RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0109
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 000836 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2019 
TAGS: OVIP STEINBERG JAMES PGOV PREL MY
SUBJECT: DEPUTY SECRETARY STEINBERG'S SEPTEMBER 28, 2009 
MEETING WITH MALAYSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER HAMIDI 
 
Classified By: Ambassador James R. Keith for reasons 1.4 (b, d). 
 
¶1. (SBU) September 28, 2009; 10:00 a.m.; The Ministry of 
Defense; Kuala Lumpur. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Participants: 
 
U.S. 
---- 
The Deputy Secretary 
Ambassador Keith 
Ambassador Joseph DeTrani, Directorate of National 
Intelligence 
Joseph Donovan, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State 
Scot Marciel, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, EAP 
Derek Mitchell, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of 
Defense 
Rear Admiral Charles Leidig, Joint Chiefs of Staff 
Pamela Park, Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary 
Col. Y.T. Pak, Defense Attache 
Greg Chapman, Political Officer, U.S. Embassy Kuala Lumpur 
(notetaker) 
 
MALAYSIA 
-------- 
Minister of Defense Ahmad Zahid Hamidi 
Chief of Defense Offices General Azizan bin Ariffin 
MoD Secretary-General Abu Bakar bin Haj Abdulla 
Under Secretary for Policy Dr. Hj Ismail bin Hj Ahmad 
Director of the Defense Intelligence Staff Division LTG Abdul 
Hadi bin Hussin 
Deborah Tan, North America desk officer, Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs (notetaker) 
 
¶3. (C) SUMMARY: In a September 28 meeting with visiting 
Deputy Secretary Steinberg, Malaysian Defense Minister Ahmad 
Zahid Hamidi stressed the "new tone" of relations between the 
U.S. and Malaysia, with Prime Minister Najib encouraging 
closer cooperation with the U.S. on all fronts, including 
mil-to-mil.  Hamidi shared Deputy Steinberg,s assessment 
that relations between the two defense establishments are 
excellent, and improving, as seen in increased port visits 
and Malaysian participation in U.S. training exercises. 
Recalling his conversation with PM Najib earlier in the day, 
Deputy Secretary Steinberg urged Hamidi to firm up notional 
ideas about Malaysian mil-mil assistance to Afghanistan. 
Deputy Steinberg suggested other areas where the two 
countries can work together, including anti-piracy and 
peace-keeping operations.  Hamidi told the Deputy the cabinet 
had agreed to waive port fees for visiting U.S. Navy ships 
(although the government decision still had to be worked out 
with port owners and operators), and he would be visiting the 
U.S. early next year to meet with Defense Secretary Gates. 
He encouraged a U.S. ship visit to Langkawi Island in 
December for the International Maritime and Aerospace 
Exhibition, as a way of underscoring strengthened ties. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶4. (C) Defense Minister Hamidi, who took office in April of 
this year, fully agreed with Deputy Secretary Steinberg's 
assessment that our bilateral relations on the defense side 
are excellent, and growing.  Hamidi pointed out that Malaysia 
had recently upgraded the rank of its Ambassador in 
Washington to full ministerial-level.  He said PM Najib had 
instructed his government to look for ways to improve 
relations with the US, especially in mil-to-mil.  Hamidi 
thought Deputy Steinberg's visit was timely, taking place as 
the government sought to implement this shift. 
 
¶5. (C) Hamidi and Deputy Secretary Steinberg reviewed recent 
progress in defense cooperation: the U.S. Navy had increased 
the number of its ship visits to Malaysia, Malaysians were 
sending more military personnel on US-sponsored training 
events, and the two militaries participated in a growing list 
of joint exercises.  PDAS/D Mitchell singled out the August 
Malaysian-U.S. Strategic Talks (MUSST) event as another 
indicator of the excellent tone of relations, and added that 
Defense Secretary Gates had commented on the importance of 
getting the U.S. military more engaged in Southeast Asia. LTG 
Hadi offered another indicator of mil-to-mil ties -- the 
ongoing construction of a series of radar installations in 
eastern Sabah, paid for with USG 1206 funding.  Deputy 
Steinberg and Minister Hamidi agreed that defense cooperation 
between the U.S. and Malaysia, as well as among the countries 
in the region, was vital to long-term stability. The Minister 
also noted that regional collaboration was good: Malaysia was 
working closely with the Thai, Indonesians and Singaporeans 
on counter-piracy, and ASEAN defense ministers worked well 
 
KUALA LUMP 00000836  002 OF 002 
 
 
together through the various US-ASEAN defense fora. Hamidi 
agreed with Deputy Steinberg that ASEAN  1 could be used to 
build defense ties in an informal setting. 
 
¶6. (C) On USN ship visits to Malaysia, Minister Hamidi said 
his government understood that high port fees had become 
something of an obstacle to U.S. Navy calls to commercial 
Malaysian ports, and to resolve the issue the cabinet had 
recently decided to waive port fees for U.S. Navy ships. The 
issue wasn't completely resolved, since Malaysian ports were 
privatized and the fee waiver had not yet been negotiated 
with port owners and operators.  MoD Secretary-General Abu 
Bakar raised the issue of clearing ports of civilian merchant 
traffic when U.S. Navy ships were in town to provide better 
security. 
 
¶7. (C) Deputy Steinberg said there were other areas where we 
can work more closely:  peacekeeping operations, anti-piracy 
and assistance to Afghanistan.  The Deputy indicated he was 
aware that Malaysia had offered some capacity building 
training in Malaysia to Afghans, and described his discussion 
of Afghanistan with PM Najib earlier that morning (see 
septel). Hamidi told Deputy Steinberg his government wanted 
to enhance its efforts with Afghanistan, and was considering 
various options. One possibility, he said, playing on 
Malaysia's experience with de-radicalization, was a program 
aimed at "cooling down" anti-western sentiments among some 
Afghans.  This program was very notional at this point, but 
reflected the GoM's willingness to do more, he said. 
 
¶8. (C) Minister Hamidi encouraged U.S. Navy participation in 
Malaysia's upcoming International Maritime and Aerospace 
Exhibition, to be held on Langkawi Island in December. Hamidi 
hoped the U.S. could send a naval ship to make a port call 
during the event as a way of emphasizing the partnership of 
the two countries in the area of defense, and suggested that 
in the future the US consider building in joint exercises as 
part of events of this sort.  Admiral Leidig said a ship 
visit was already under consideration.  As a former Minister 
of Tourism, Hamidi also hoped that more U.S. military 
personnel would come to Malaysia for tourism in order to help 
build understanding between the two countries. He pointed out 
how Middle Eastern attitudes toward Malaysia had improved 
greatly since Malaysia began promoting itself as a 
destination for persons from that part of the world. 
 
¶9. (C) Minister Hamidi indicated he would likely be traveling 
to the U.S. in February or March next year. Hamidi said he 
wanted to enhance our bilateral dialogue through what he 
called a "personal touch."  Deputy Steinberg agreed the 
personal touch was important in bilateral relations, and 
offered the ASEAN plus one forum as a venue where those 
personal ties could be built.  He encouraged Hamidi to make a 
call at the State Department when he visits Washington. 
¶10. (U) Deputy Secretary Steinberg cleared this message. 
KEITH