SINGAPORE, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Singapore is "surprised and disappointed" over the latest U.S. Country Reports on Terrorism 2012, which cast the city-state in a negative light, Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
The U.S. report said in 2012, Singapore's bilateral and multilateral engagement on counterterrorism intelligence and law enforcement cooperation was "inconsistent" and "marked by a transactional mindset that impeded the development of broad, deep, and predictable agency-to-agency relationships."
The U.S. report indeed admitted that some of the country's agencies had success from time to time, however it said the city- state "appeared to provide selective cooperation dependent upon the issue."
The two ministries of Singapore said in response that they are of the view that the State Department's report does not " accurately describe" the relations that they have with U.S. agencies involved in counter-terrorism matters.
"It also shows a lack of understanding of Singapore's deep commitment towards international cooperation against the threat of terrorism, whether at the bilateral or multilateral level, and not least on the intelligence and law enforcement front," the ministries said in a statement.
The statement also said " For cooperation to work well, parties should not only take into account mutual interests, but also mutual respect and trust."
"Notwithstanding the negative characterisation of our efforts which the State Department has chosen to make, we will continue to work with our international counterparts on counter-terrorism matters," it added.
China’s weekly story
(2013.7.5-7.12)
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