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FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3661
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KUALA LUMPUR 000010 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR EAP/MTS AND H PLEASE PASS TO CONGRESSMAN FALEOMAVAEGA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/07/2020 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER ECON ETRD KDEM MY
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR VISIT TO MALAYSIA BY CONGRESSMAN 
FALEOMAVAEGA 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Rapson for reasons 1.4 b 
and d. 
 
Summary and Introduction 
------------------------ 
 
¶1. (C) Mr. Congressman, Embassy Kuala Lumpur warmly welcomes 
your visit to Malaysia, which comes at a moment of 
opportunity in U.S.-Malaysia relations.  In his nine months 
in office, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has demonstrated a 
more pragmatic and action-oriented approach than his 
predecessor and he appears to be more inclined to move 
Malaysia at least some distance toward the international 
mainstream on issues of importance to the United States.  In 
this context, our efforts are focused on continuing our good 
security cooperation with Malaysia, expanding the trade and 
investment dimensions of our ties, and deepening our 
partnership on key global issues, including Malaysia's 
diplomacy towards Iran and Afghanistan.  Non-proliferation 
and the passage of an export control law remain high on our 
mission agenda, with some successes on the 
counter-proliferation front but virtually no movement on the 
passage of an export control law.  We are also concerned by 
the recent disappearance of two U.S. built F-5 engines that 
may have been sold illegally, as they were controlled 
military items by agreement.  Since being ranked as a Tier 3 
country in last year's Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, 
Malaysia has taken initial steps to combat trafficking, but 
still has measured room for improvement. The domestic 
political tempo has slowed since the 'political tsunami' of 
the March 2008 general elections saw the opposition capture a 
record number of seats.  The most recent political test for 
Prime Minister Najib, who took over in April 2009, involves 
his government's case against a Catholic newspaper for their 
use of the word 'Allah.'  Malaysia's Legislature consists of 
an active 222-seat Parliament and a less active 71-seat 
Senate.  While both houses will be in recess during your 
visit, you will have an opportunity to meet with a mix of 
ruling party and opposition parliamentarians. 
 
¶2. (C) During your meetings with the Foreign Ministry and 
Malaysian parliamentarians, we recommend that you focus on 
the following themes and objectives: 
 
-- Emphasize President Obama's sincerity in reaching out to 
the Muslim world, noting that his speech in Cairo in June 
2009 was not a solution, but a first step; 
 
-- Stress the importance to the global trading system of the 
GOM passing a credible export control law as soon as possible 
as a first step toward establishment of a robust export 
control regime. 
 
-- Highlight our ongoing commitment to diplomatic resolution 
of the international community's differences with Iran while 
also communicating our resolve to preserve stability and 
security in the Middle East; 
 
-- Seek out Malaysia's willingness to provide financial and 
appropriate forms of assistance in Afghanistan; 
 
-- Acknowledge Malaysia's recent efforts to improve their 
anti-TIP efforts, but emphasize that more needs to be done; 
 
--Remind Malaysian officials that we remain concerned with 
Burma, highlighting that we would appreciate Malaysia's 
continued support in releasing Aung San Suu Kyi and for the 
military junta to hold free and fair elections in 2010. 
 
End Summary and Introduction 
 
The Broader Relationship in Context 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Robust trade and investment ties remain the solid 
foundation of our relationship with Malaysia, our 18th 
largest trading partner (bilateral trade totaled USD 44 
billion in 2008).  The GOM has been an important partner on 
counterterrorism when it serves Malaysia's own security 
interests, and we enjoy expanding law enforcement cooperation 
as well as evolving military-to-military ties.  Mil-mil 
engagement continues to expand in frequency and quality, as 
is evidenced by the increase in ship visits over the last 
four years, from approximately six per year to over 27 in 
¶2009.  Malaysia already hosts a regional Humanitarian 
Assistance / Disaster Relief (HA/DR), and we have been 
working to improve our disaster relief cooperation. Our 
people-to-people ties build on decades of Malaysian students 
studying in America (5,400 Malaysian students studied in the 
U.S. during in 2007-2008).  The emergence of new 
 
KUALA LUMP 00000010  002 OF 004 
 
 
administrations in both our countries has provided expanded 
opportunities to pursue vigorous public outreach to 
often-skeptical, but now more receptive, Muslim Malay 
audiences. 
 
Najib and His Cabinet Seek Better U.S.-Malaysia Ties 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶4. (C) PM Najib has a more nuanced sense than his 
predecessor, Abdullah Badawi, of international politics as 
well as Malaysia's place in the region and the world.  Najib 
places a priority on foreign relations beyond Malaysia's 
traditional reference points of the Non-Aligned Movement 
(NAM) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). 
Although it would be inapt to describe Najib as pro-Western, 
the UK-educated Prime Minister recognizes the benefits to 
Malaysia of engaging the U.S., sustaining access to our 
market and U.S. investment, along with rapidly developing 
ties to China and India, and of participating in 
international institutions.  He has given explicit 
instruction to his cabinet to improve relations with the U.S. 
 Over the past year, and with the advent of the new U.S. 
administration, we have seen an uptick in the tempo of our 
senior-level bilateral interactions, to include the 
President's extended phone conversation with Najib in June, 
Foreign Minister Anifah's meeting with Secretary Clinton in 
DC in May, and Deputy Secretary Steinberg's visit to Kuala 
Lumpur in September. 
 
Foreign Policy:  Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan, and ASEAN 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Malaysia's foreign policy is not well aligned with 
that of the United States.  Instead, it is Non-Aligned 
Movement (NAM)-centric which leads Malaysia to vote opposite 
the U.S. position on almost all important UN issues, and is 
unlikely to change dramatically.  Although the GOM has 
recently expressed willingness to cooperate with 
international efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear 
weapons, its Ambassador to the IAEA on November 25 voted 
(along with only Cuba and Venezuela) against a 
German-sponsored IAEA resolution calling for increased 
cooperation from Iran.  While the Foreign Minister 
subsequently reversed Malaysia's position on the vote and 
recalled its Ambassador, the incident undercut Malaysia's 
credibility on this issue.  On the other hand, U.S. support 
for Malaysia joining the Somalia anti-piracy Contact Group 
was a useful start to moving Malaysia toward more engagement 
in multilateral security structures.  We are encouraging 
Malaysia to play a more active role in helping build capacity 
in Afghanistan.  Malaysia is a leading member of ASEAN, and 
could play a more positive role in Southeast Asian conflict 
resolution and ASEAN's approach to Burma to bring about 
democratic change in that country.  The one foreign policy 
issue that resonates most profoundly with the Malaysian 
public is the Israel-Palestine conflict, where predominantly 
Muslim Malaysians (55 percent of the population) identify 
with the Palestinians and criticize U.S. support of Israel. 
 
CT and Law Enforcement 
---------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Counterterrorism cooperation with Malaysia has been 
effective.  Early round-ups in 2001-2002 of scores of Jemaah 
Islamiyah (JI) suspects helped prevent terrorist attacks 
here, but Malaysian extremists remain engaged in JI 
operations elsewhere.  Two Malaysians were among the 14 
high-value U.S. detainees transferred to Guantanamo in 2006; 
Malaysia has a pending request for their return.  Growing 
domestic political pressure to do away with preventive 
detention laws, principally the Internal Security Act (ISA), 
could pose a long-term challenge to Malaysian law 
enforcement, which is overly reliant on administrative 
detention.  Interagency engagement has also increased with 
the newly formed Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency 
(MMEA), which has broad maritime law enforcement, 
humanitarian, and security responsibilities similar to the 
U.S. Coast Guard. 
 
Non-proliferation and Export Control 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (C) The GOM supports the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) 
regime, with emphasis on the need for all countries to 
denuclearize. Malaysia claims to enforce the letter of UNSCR 
resolutions, but it has not entered into the spirit of 
putting pressure on Iran to relinquish its nuclear weapons 
development programs, perhaps primarily due to the widespread 
public perception here that Iran's denial of a weapons 
program can be taken at face value.  We remain concerned that 
 
KUALA LUMP 00000010  003 OF 004 
 
 
Malaysia remains a key transit point for proliferation 
activities.  Equally of concern has been the lack of momentum 
in passage of an export control law, which is critical for 
Malaysia to be able to take the kind of actions we want to 
stem growth in transshipments of sensitive technologies to UN 
proscribed entities.  Most recently, we are paying close 
attention to the recent disclosure that two F-5 jet engines 
have disappeared.  The disappearance of the engines, whose 
use and distribution is regulated by an agreement between the 
U.S. and Malaysia, could be a simple case of graft, but we 
cannot discount the possibility that they were smuggled to a 
third country like Iran.  The GOM is investigating and has 
indicted two individuals. 
 
The Economy and Trade Relations with the U.S. 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Malaysia's economy was estimated to have contracted 
about five percent in 2009 and is expected recover slowly in 
¶2010.  The global recession led to dramatic declines in 
exports and investment this year in Malaysia, resulting in a 
recession since the first quarter of 2009.  Hence, the 
political stakes are high for Najib, who must ensure that the 
economy continues to provide growth and prosperity to a large 
middle class.  Najib has used the recession to push forward 
economic reforms needed to keep Malaysia competitive. 
Najib's recognition that reforms are needed also presents 
opportunities for our trade and investment agenda 
specifically with regard to market access issues related to 
government procurement and competition policy, among others. 
While it is not yet ready to join, Malaysia is interested in 
discussions related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership regional 
trade agreement.  If it decided to join, it could make use of 
much of the work done during the U.S.-Malaysia Free Trade 
Agreement negotiations. 
 
Domestic Politics 
----------------- 
 
¶9. (C) The broader domestic context is more settled than a 
year ago, but worrisome factors are still embedded in the 
system.  Najib came to power as Prime Minister in April 2009 
in the midst of domestic political discord that raises 
long-term questions regarding the continued dominance of his 
ruling UMNO party, in power since independence in 1957.  He 
replaced former PM Abdullah Badawi, who was eased out after 
the ruling National Front (BN) coalition lost its 
near-perpetual two-thirds majority control of Parliament--and 
five of 13 states--in the March 2008 general elections. 
Najib successfully presided over the recent UMNO national 
convention, which bolstered his leadership, but is finding it 
challenging to identify and implement popular political 
reform measures while maintaining UMNO's tight control over 
state levers of power and patronage.  With a weakened ruling 
coalition, a consolidating opposition, and a more 
sophisticated electorate with access to more information, 
Malaysians are struggling to adjust to a new and more 
competitive political environment. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Malaysia has a long record of religious tolerance, 
but non-Muslims are concerned about what they see as creeping 
Islamization of Malaysian society.  A contentious issue in 
January was whether non-Muslim Malay-language religious 
publications could use the word "Allah" to refer to God, 
which has lead to widespread public discord and, on January 
8, arson attacks on at least three Christian churches in 
Kuala Lumpur.  Last year's court ruling to cane a Muslim 
woman, Kartika, as punishment for drinking a beer at a hotel 
drew widespread condemnation from human rights groups, 
although most Islamic groups have supported the punishment as 
a valid execution of Syariah law. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Malaysia's judiciary is not independent and the 
ruling party retains broad power to circumscribe freedoms of 
assembly, expression, and the press.  In particular, the 
ruling party has embarked upon an effort to modernize the 
Internal Security Act, which permits extended detention 
without judicial review.  Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim 
remains at risk of imprisonment over what most observers 
would agree are politicized charges of sodomy, a violation of 
criminal law in Malaysia.  His trial is scheduled to begin on 
January 25. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Malaysia's Parliament has taken on increased 
importance since the opposition coalition, known as the 
People's Assembly, captured 88 out of 222 seats in the March 
2008 general elections.  Once considered a rubber-stamp 
organization, Parliament now holds meaningful policy debates 
about political, economic and social issues. 
Parliamentarians function with little or no staff support and 
 
KUALA LUMP 00000010  004 OF 004 
 
 
there is no committee structure to speak of.  Increased 
cooperation between the Malaysian Parliament and the U.S. 
Congress is an area worth exploring. 
 
Trafficking in Persons and Human Rights 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) In June 2009, the U.S. designated Malaysia as a 
Tier III TIP country, for lack of significant efforts to 
combat human trafficking.  Areas identified in our annual TIP 
report where problems were especially acute included: labor 
trafficking, prosecutions of traffickers, and victim 
identification and protection.  In the months following its 
designation and our comprehensive engagement, the Malaysian 
Government has taken a number of measures.  The GOM has 
arrested immigration officials in connection with the 
trafficking of Burmese refugees at the Thai border (the 
subject of an US Senate Foreign Relations Committee report); 
shared with us a five-year National TIP Action Plan; issued 
prosecutorial directives on the handling of TIP cases under 
the guidance of the Attorney General's Chambers; and hosted a 
number of trainings designed to educate law enforcement 
officers on how to investigate and charge cases under the new 
Anti-TIP Act. 
KEITH