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发帖数: 10330 | 1 Malaysia summons Singapore envoy over spying reports
KUALA LUMPUR Mon Nov 25, 2013 10:41pm EST
(Reuters) - Malaysia's government summoned Singapore's high commissioner for
talks on Tuesday, saying it was "extremely concerned" by media reports that
the city-state helps Western intelligence agencies spy on its Southeast
Asian neighbor.
Media reports citing documents leaked by former U.S. National Security
Agency contractor Edward Snowden put Singapore, a key U.S. ally, at the
center of a spy network that reportedly taps undersea cables in the region.
"If those allegations are eventually proven, it is certainly a serious
matter that the Government of Malaysia strongly rejects and abhors," Foreign
Minister Anifah Aman said in a statement late on Monday.
"It cannot be overemphasized that spying against a good friend and neighbor
is unacceptable and goes against the true spirit of, and commitment to, good
neighborly relations."
A souring of Singapore-Malaysia ties would worsen the fallout on U.S. allies
from spying accusations in Southeast Asia. Last week, Indonesia downgraded
diplomatic ties with staunch U.S. ally Australia following media reports
that Canberra spied on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife.
Citing documents leaked by Snowden, Australia's Sydney Morning Herald said
Singapore military intelligence helped U.S., British and Australian spy
agencies harvest data passing through a major undersea cable called SEA-ME-
WE 3 that is part-owned by Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel).
SEA-ME-WE 3, which stands for Southeast Asia, Middle East and Western Europe
, connects more than 30 countries, including China, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Britain and France.
SingTel declined to comment, while Singapore's defense ministry did not
respond to queries, and its foreign affairs ministry did not immediately
provide a comment.
Malaysia and Singapore, which separated in 1965 after a brief union in the
years following independence from Britain, have close economic ties, but
relations have sometimes been prickly.
They have quarreled over building bridges across the Johor Strait, land
reclamation, water supply and racial issues.
Relations have warmed since Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's outspoken former
prime minister, stepped down in 2003 and Singapore has become a key investor
in Malaysia's southern Iskandar Development Region.
(Reporting by Niluksi Koswanage in KUALA LUMPUR and Kevin Lim in SINGAPORE;
Editing by Clarence Fernandez) |
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