Thread: SAF armoured vehicles(Terrex) detained in Hong Kong port
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Old 29-11-2016, 04:38 PM
arsenal168 arsenal168 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skyleon View Post
SINGAPORE - Singapore will not allow any single issue to hijack its longstanding, wide-ranging relationship with China, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said on Tuesday (Nov 29).

Dr Balakrishnan, the keynote speaker at The Straits Times Global Outlook Forum, was responding to questions about recent frictions in Singapore-China ties, including last week's seizure of nine Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) armoured vehicles by the Customs authorities in Hong Kong.

Senior officials on both sides understand that the relationship is "longstanding, multi-faceted, mutually beneficial" and will not allow any single issue to hijack it, he said at the forum at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Dr Balakrishnan added: "I wouldn't overreact to that... we expect commercial providers of services to strictly comply with the law.

"It will be a footnote on how to do things strictly, carefully and by the law. It's not a strategic incident."

Last Wednesday (Nov 23), Hong Kong Customs officials seized the SAF Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles and related equipment that were on board a container ship belonging to shipping firm APL. The SAF vehicles were bound for Singapore after a military exercise in Taiwan.

The SAF conducts overseas training in a dozen or so territories and hires commercial shippers to transport military equipment to and from Singapore.

A spokesman for Hong Kong's Customs and Excise Department had told The Straits Times that "suspected controlled items" were found on board the vessel during a search.

On Monday, China said it has made representations to Singapore voicing unhappiness over the incident.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular media briefing in Beijing that Singapore should "strictly abide by the laws of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), and cooperate with the SAR government on all necessary follow-ups".

He said:"The Chinese government has always firmly opposed countries that have diplomatic ties with China to have any form of official exchanges with Taiwan, including military exchanges and cooperation.

"We asked that the Singapore Government strictly abide by the one-China principle," he added
Can some1 help interpret what is our Foreign minister trying to say? I catch no ball...