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Hong Kong customs seize shipment of nine armoured military vehicles from Taiwan bound for Singapore

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-singapore-taiwan-analysis-idUSKBN13R0N3


As the impounding of Singaporean troop carriers in Hong Kong exposes rising tensions between China and Singapore, the Lion City is unlikely to budge on core security interests concerning Beijing – its military relationship with Taiwan, worries over the South China Sea and its hosting of the U.S. military.

Singaporean officials, retired military officers and analysts stress that even while Singapore publicly plays down the spat, its leadership will not easily give in to what it sees as intimidation on matters of national importance.

Singapore will not be bullied and backed up against a wall," said Tim Huxley, an expert on Singapore's military at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. "(It) will take a determined stand on issues that it sees as important – and the importance of the issues at hand should not be underestimated."

Hong Kong customs last week seized nine armored troop carriers being shipped from Taiwan to Singapore after military exercises, prompting warnings from Beijing about maintaining ties with an island it regards as a breakaway province.

China will find Singapore harder to crack than other countries in its orbit, however, as it less beholden to Chinese security or economic pressure, given its advanced market status and international security relationships, including with the United States, he said.

"China will find Singapore defiant and able to withstand pressure, but Singapore will find itself losing influence and more isolated within Southeast Asia as countries increasingly look to China," Zhang said.
 
Singapore can look after their own national interests, just like everyone else.

But don't pass those armoured troop carriers through Hong Kong without a permit, or we'll confiscate them again (and melt them into slag since we have no other use for them). :lol:
 
Sg netizens got heated debate on this issue. Many curse the government for this embarrassing incident, most feel that their PM should have kept quite about the SCS issue, there's even an opposition party member call on the government to apologize to China. I feel there is a division between the leadership & the people in the relationship with China.... I think their leadership has gone downhill after the death of Lee Kuan Yew, lack of tactful statesmanship & strategic foresight.

Leadership has a pro-US stance.

75% of the people have pro-China sentiments- on the simple basis of blood ties.

Singapore is probably the most Sino-istic country outside of greater china.

The time will come for the leadership to make a decision on whether to continue siding with the US or with China. There can be no balancing middle ground as the antagonism grows bigger btw the 2 giants.

Leadership has a pro-US stance, because it recognises US still exerts tremendous influence over the world financially, diplomatically n militarily.

China still has a long way to catch up with the latter 2.

It has to reach a critical level on par or over the US to make the leadership switch sides. as a small island being surrounded by enemies'(think about israel being surrounded by arab countries on all sides), it's only practical for our leaders that Singapore depend on the protector who would be able to offer that security- until some1 else proves he has the ability to replace that role.
 
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More evidence is point that Singapore is trying to backstab China. It is time to take counter measures against Singapore.

Singapore is great friend and never backstab China. Singapore is under constant economic and military threat on all sides from Muslim countries and require protection from the US. Singapore is the last Asean(original 5) country to normalise relations with China just so as not to upset our Muslim neighbors. Singapore had been a great help to China in opening to the world. Singapore started training in Taiwan since around 1971/1972 when the island is too small to fire the 155mm gun.
 
It has to reach a critical level on par or over the US to make the leadership switch sides. as a small island being surrounded by enemies'(think about israel being surrounded by arab countries on all sides), it's only practical for our leaders that Singapore depend on the protector who would be able to offer that security- until some1 else proves he has the ability to replace that role.

Singapore is great friend and never backstab China. Singapore is under constant economic and military threat on all sides from Muslim countries and require protection from the US. Singapore is the last Asean(original 5) country to normalise relations with China just so as not to upset our Muslim neighbors. Singapore had been a great help to China in opening to the world. Singapore started training in Taiwan since around 1971/1972 when the island is too small to fire the 155mm gun.

Yes we should look at it from the Singaporean perspective.

Singapore is a small city state, with a population of only around 5 million (compared to 7 million for my city HK). They have always been worried about Malaysia and Indonesia exerting territorial claims on them.

So when Singapore supports the US in the South China Sea, it's not necessarily anti-China, but rather they are afraid if the international order is upset then they themselves we be at risk from their bigger neighbors.

China needs to be in a stronger position before Singapore will find it in their best interests to side with us in the region.
 
http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/polit...-singapore-cant-afford-be-pushed-around-china

More than a week after Hong Kong customs authorities impounded nine Terrex infantry carrier vehicles are there signs of a resolution?

4 Dec 2016
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Nine Singapore-made Terrex infantry carrier vehicles seized in Hong Kong lie under tarpaulin. Photo: AFP
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The sudden seizure of Singapore’s nine Terrex infantry carrier vehicles (ICVs) has sparked mixed reactions in the city state. Some have asked for Singapore to apologise to China and accede to the superpower’s demands. Others have insisted that it escalate the row to recover the hardware.

Still others, including Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and Professor Wang Gungwu of the National University of Singapore, think the incident is merely a ripple on the tide of Sino-Singapore relations, and will subside soon enough.

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One of the Singaporean armoured vehicles held at Kwai Chung Cargo Terminal in Hong Kong. File photo

Yet the signs of strain are showing between the two nations. Some Chinese bristle at the reminder that Singapore keeps up official relations with Taiwan, which it views as a renegade province. Some Singaporeans chafe at the perceived petty bullying by a more powerful country.

Now, more than a week after the seizure, are there signs of an early resolution?

Hong Kong: a deliberate choice
That the seizure took place in Hong Kong hints at China’s intentions. Singapore has been using APL to transport its military hardware for years and APL’s Kaohsiung-Singapore route passes through Xiamen
(廈門) and Hong Kong before going to Chiwan, Malaysia and then Singapore.

The vehicles had already been earmarked at Xiamen for seizure in Hong Kong, according to news agency FactWire, and it was sources in Chinese customs that tipped the press off about the seizure. The situation is too coincidental to ignore and appears to be a calibrated bilateral blow-up in Hong Kong, where it would be easier to contain any escalation.

WATCH: What’s going on with the Singaporean military vehicles in Hong Kong?
Pouncing on what appears to be a case of botched paperwork, China thought it opportune to use Hong Kong as a stage to send a message to both Singapore and Taiwan.

The three “Asian Tiger” economies have much in common but have three very different relationships with China. Hong Kong is indisputably Chinese territory. Taiwan has set its face against the influence of mainland China and the current government has refused to acknowledge the one-China policy. Independent Singapore maintains friendly relations with both mainland China and Taiwan but abides by the one-China principle. Singapore is a key influencer for diplomacy in Asean and beyond, and therefore integral to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) “One Belt, One Road” strategy.

A three-way dance
Taiwan’s relationship with China soured when President Tsai Ing-wen failed to disavow calls for Taiwanese independence and acknowledge China’s view of the one-China policy. Beijing cut off communications with Taipei in June after years of warming relations under the Kuomintang’s Ma Ying-jeou. This tactic of isolation is now being extended to Taiwan’s friends.

Inside the Terrex military vehicle at the centre of Singapore-China storm
This is not to say China doesn’t want to use the Terrex incident to impose itself on Singapore as well. Beijing still bristles from Singapore’s stand of supporting an international ruling that rejects China’s claim over parts of the South China Sea, and will want to pressure the city state to reconsider its position. But will Singapore buckle? It seems unlikely. This incident will most likely spur Singapore to cling resolutely to the rule of international law to recover its lost armoured carriers and resist bullying. After an initial shock, Singaporeans will galvanise against what is seen as petty meddling.

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A Chinese H-6K bomber patrols islands and reefs in the South China Sea. Severe consequences await Singapore if it gives in to China on either Taiwan or the South China Sea. Photo: AP

Severe consequences await Singapore if it gives in to China on either Taiwan or the South China Sea.

Singapore’s military relationship with Taiwan goes back to its early post-independence years – Operation Starlight began in 1975 and is an open secret. In the early days, at least two Taiwanese officers held the top posts in Singapore’s air force and navy.

Asean is Singapore’s backyard, and a bloc that the country benefits from being a part of. If Asean interests are jeopardised, then Singapore stands to lose out as well.

Delicate manoeuvring
Singapore is stuck between a rock and a hard place, and will have to move very delicately to preserve its well-being. Singapore will stay calm and simply wait for China to release the ICVs once it feels that the diplomatic capital from the seizure has been milked dry.

It may not be a quick resolution.

Singapore’s relationship with Taiwan will have to be pursued with more caution. Its physical constraints of having only 719 sq km of land have meant that it conducts overseas training exercises in several other countries, including Australia, Thailand and the United States.

8d9e4dbe-b890-11e6-a8ef-4657c68d1ed0_660x385.JPG
A Singaporean soldier takes part in a joint military exercise between Thailand, Singapore and the United States . For nearly 30 years, Singapore has trained its troops in Taiwan under the code name Operation Starlight. Photo: Reuters

This year, for example, it made a pact to expand training in Australia, more than doubling the 6,000 troops a year to 14,000.

Troop deployments in Taiwan under Operation Starlight have already come down to 3,000 a year from a peak of 15,000. It is unlikely that they will drop any further as this would hamper Singapore’s ability to conduct the large-scale training exercises it needs on Taiwan’s shores. Shipments for Starlight will have to steer clear of China’s shores. As Singapore is among the largest foreign investors in China, the fates of both economies are intertwined.

For Beijing, seizure of Singapore armoured vehicles is a low-risk shot across the bows
It is possible that, quietly, so as not to upset Taiwan and Asean neighbours, Singapore will increase its military exercises with the People’s Liberation Army, a trend it has followed over the last decade, and one that is especially prudent now with doubt hanging over America’s international role under President-elect Donald Trump. But Singapore cannot afford to fully ally itself to one world power or another. Not only would that ultimately result in vassaldom, it would also close it off to options to pursue international political, economic and social opportunities that serve its own national interest.

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Daniel Yap is the publisher of The Middle Ground, an independent news portal based in Singapore
 
I'm just scared China is gonna reverse engineer the vehicles...
 
Thanks for your kind concern, this may like a new found treasure for dirt poor people
However we've way better toys than that, money talk, bullshit walk bro
So you resorted to racism:lol:

What are the Chinese equivalent of the Terrex vehicles.
 
I'm just scared China is gonna reverse engineer the vehicles...
Singaporean military tech that advanced that China needs to reverse engineer it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZBL09 has many variants, who wants Singaporean garbage anyway? We are simply teaching you guys a lesson, if you want them back why not take them back by force? :lol:
 
So you resorted to racism:lol:

What are the Chinese equivalent of the Terrex vehicles.

Little man, learn some simple human logic like "gave respect earn respect"
Like when you're on a mission to troll and insult others, do not expect some flowers in return period
Using "racism" as excuses to cover up your own pathetic provocation will only show your natural born loser mentality
And please do not hide behind Singaporean flag with alien like your kind, i take that as an insult to my relatives in Singapore, thank you
 
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