WikiLeaks causes Singapore Officials to be Cautious with U.S Diplomats

Last month, there were several released documents from WikiLeaks, which showed Singapore Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew and other Singapore diplomats giving unflattering remarks on countries including Myanmar, North Korea, Malaysia and India.

According to Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo, these leaks have caused Singapore officials to be more cautious with U.S Diplomats. WikiLeaks is apparently popular with publics across the world but not among governmental bodies. Its founder, Julian Assange, was also TIME’s Magazine Person of the Year by readers’ choice.

“The WikiLeaks disclosures have been disastrous for U.S. diplomacy,” Yeo said. “We have to be more guarded in our communications with U.S. diplomats. If it happened once, it can happen again, so we’ve got to be more careful.”

Singapore isn’t the only one affected. Leaders across the globe who have dealings with the U.S are also affected. WikiLeaks’s disclosures are disastrous for American diplomacy but U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton don’t expect it to hurt relationships in long term.

Most of the leaders “understand this is something that was unforeseen and unfortunate,” Clinton said Monday on a television talk show in Abu Dhabi, where she began a three-nation tour of the Persian Gulf.

“So I don’t think it will have lasting consequences. But I will certainly say that it was unfortunate and something we regret,” she said.

It is interesting how a simple web technology has become a concern at international level. I embrace transparency but can’t help but feel some of the leaked documents published could have been more responsible. Did MM Lee give such remarks on Myanmar? We can’t verify but somehow it has gotten into our head. The government dismissed it as groundless gossips but how many would buy that? Clearly, WikiLeaks’s influence has wide reach and strong persuasiveness. It’s good as a whistle-blowing site – surfacing and solving problems. But not quite so, when it comes to remarks. What do you think?

Also Catch: The WikiLeaks Story… So Far…

[Via Washington Post]

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