KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 — Umno Youth today demanded for more substantive assurances from the United States, Australia and Singapore over recent revelations of spying on Malaysia, and urged the government to take the “strongest action” if the claims are true.
Khairy Jamaluddin, who heads the wing, said a simple denial by the envoys of the three countries won’t cut it, as espionage is a serious infringement of the sovereignty of Malaysia and its people.
“Anyone can deny, but with such strong evidence revealed by Snowden on spying activities, the responsibility falls on those who are accused,” he said, referring to intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden.
“If they want to maintain good bilateral relations with us, they must convince the rakyat that it did not take place... this is a very serious allegation,” he added at a press conference after chairing the wing’s first executive council meeting after the party polls last month.
Khairy today said that recalling Malaysia’s envoys from its missions in the three countries should be on the table, but noted that it would depend on how responsive they are to Malaysia’s demands.
“We have to take some drastic action and Pemuda do not rule out supporting strong extreme action, for instance calling back our envoys,” he said, referring to the Malay term for youth.
“But in the meantime, we need more information. We don’t want to overreact for the time being, but we must be firm in saying that we need more assurance... if more assurances are not forthcoming, I think we can consider that.”
Earlier this week, it was revealed in top-secret documents leaked by Snowden that Singapore was a key partner of the “5-Eyes” intelligence group that tapped telephones and monitored communications networks in Kuala Lumpur.
In a report by Australian media group Fairfax Media quoting Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad, it was revealed that Singapore is a key “third party” providing the ring — made of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — access to Malaysia’s communications channel.
According to Fairfax, Malaysia and Indonesia had been key targets for both Australian and Singaporean intelligence even since the 1970s, since most of its telecommunications and internet traffic goes through the island city-state.
Opposition lawmakers had earlier criticised the government for being too soft in its dealings with the US and Australia following the spying expose, demanding that Putrajaya suspend negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) until the Americans come clean on the allegations.
DAP’s Klang MP Charles Santiago said Malaysia should go the way of the European Union (EU), which had initially suspended negotiations with the United States on the Trans Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership after it was revealed that it had eavesdropped on allies, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
EU lawmakers are also attempting to freeze American access to their banking network, but suffered a setback after the European Commission ruled that there is no proof to show that the US had abused its limited privileges by trawling too deeply into a financial database in Belgium.
Nearly two weeks ago, Indonesia recalled its envoy to Australia in what has been described as a furious response to reports that Australian spy agencies had tapped into the mobile phones of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife and ministers.
