Detained Singaporean military vehicles still held in HK - 40 days on

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Nine military vehicles from Singapore, detained in Hong Kong since November, are still being kept in the city, according to local media reports.

Hong Kong’s Apple Daily reported that the vehicles have been missing since Monday, but Hong Kong’s Customs and Excise Department told local media that they have been moved indoors from an outdoor storage yard in Tuen Mun.

The armored vehicles of Singapore confiscated by Hong Kong Customs. /Factwire Photo

The nine Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles of the Singaporean Armed Forces, bound to Singapore from Taiwan, were seized on November 23 in Hong Kong’s Kwai Chung Container Terminal. The vehicles were reportedly placed in containers without the required permits. The discovery sparked concern in Beijing over Singapore’s compliance with the one-China policy, and its overall policy toward China.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has repeated that it is firmly opposed to any official exchange between Taiwan island and countries that have diplomatic relations with China. China called on the Singaporean government to stick to the one-China principle, and cooperate with the Hong Kong government to properly deal with the matter.

One of Singapore's armored vehicles confiscated by Hong Kong Customs. /Photo from Hong Kong media

Singapore’s Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen wrote on his Facebook page on December 30 that the detention of the military vehicles by Hong Kong authorities “was a low point in 2016 from the defense perspective.” He also confirmed that the Terrexes have not been returned to Singapore.

“The SAF will learn from this episode…” Minister Ng added.

China and Singapore established formal diplomatic ties in 1990, and have since enjoyed steady bilateral ties.

However, Singapore’s ambiguous ties with Taiwan island, despite the country vehemently opposing “Taiwan independence” and adopting the one-China policy, remain a thorny issue, which has been brought to fore with the recent confiscation of the military hardware.

Six of Singaporean armored vehicles confiscated by Hong Kong Customs. /Chinanews Photo‍

A military pact between the southeast Asian nation and the Chinese island of Taiwan was inked in 1975, 15 years before China and Singapore established diplomatic ties. The pact survived despite many pledges from Singapore, and its announcement in 2012 that it was suspending military cooperation with the island.

On the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou last September, President Xi Jinping met with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and called for mutual understanding and respect on issues related to both countries' core interests and major concerns.

Under Hong Kong law, anyone violating the ordinance on strategic goods can be fined 500,000 Hong Kong dollars (about 64,000 US dollars) and jailed for two years, and the maximum penalty for importing and exporting without a license is an unlimited fine and seven years’ imprisonment.

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