Singapore’s minister Shanmugam defends ‘helpful’ US envoy Jonathan Kaplan after scathing watchdog report
- K Shanmugam’s comment comes after a US watchdog report noted Kaplan’s shortcomings including his ‘poor relationships with some ministries’
- The minister says he has always found Kaplan to be ‘proactive’ and that the US envoy is committed to maintaining strong Singapore-US ties
“Based on my dealings with him, I have found that he, like several of his predecessors, has tried to ensure that the relationship between the two countries continues to be strong,” Shanmugam wrote in a Facebook post on Monday, after the report was published on March 1.
Shanmugam met Kaplan for a working breakfast meeting on Thursday - a day before the report’s release - where they discussed a “broad range of matters”. The minister said he has always found Kaplan to be “proactive and helpful”.
The US Office of Inspector General’s 45-page report on the operations of the US embassy in Singapore found that Kaplan, a tech entrepreneur and Democratic campaign donor, had “developed poor relationships with some ministries and his actions, in some cases, hurt progress” on the US’ diplomatic goals.
“Specifically, it was described that the ambassador often was unprepared on issues and made statements that were counterproductive to a section’s work,” it stated.
