US govt welcomes public inquiry into Shane Todd’s case

WASHINGTON: Singapore’s Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam has held meetings in Washington with United States’ new Secretary of State John Kerry and the country’s Attorney General Eric Holder.

Mr Shanmugam said the US government has welcomed Singapore’s decision to launch a public inquiry into the American engineer Shane Todd’s death and to invite US officials to audit the work of his employer — Singapore’s Institute of Microelectronics. The institute was undertaking for Chinese technology giant Huawei at the time of Todd’s death.

Shane Todd’s body was found in his Singapore apartment last June and the story was making headlines in the US on Wednesday.

"Our position is loud, it’s clear, it’s set out, and I think that has been appreciated," said Mr Shanmugam.

"We know what our processes and procedures are for investigations. We are comfortable with them. They will stand up to scrutiny. The relationship between the US and Singapore is very multi—faceted. It is deep, it spans many different fields, security, economic, and also on many issues we exchange views and I believe that the fundamental logic of the relationship is an extremely strong one," he added.

The US government has yet to take a position on demands by Shane Todd’s parents. The demands for FBI oversight of the Singapore police inquiry into the American’s death were echoed on Tuesday by their US Senator, Max Baucus.

It would be highly unusual for any country to offer the FBI that kind of role in an investigation.

Singaporean officials are hoping they have done enough here to alleviate US concerns over the Shane Todd issue and allow the bilateral relationship to focus once again on the regional issues that more usually dominate it.

— CNA/fa