Nine Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Terrex infantry carrier vehicles, allegedly en route from Taiwan to Singapore, were seized in Hong Kong on Nov 23.

Responding to the vehicle seizure, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman emphasised that the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region should be adhered to, and that countries which shared diplomatic relations with China should not be engaging in any form of official exchanges with Taiwan. Hawkish commentaries followed in the Chinese media, such as Global Times and Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, with sensationalised headlines framing the issue as one between China and Singapore, suggesting that Singapore needed to give up its military training in Taiwan or compromise its bilateral relations with China.

Within Singapore, there has also been a significant amount of speculation and sensational hypotheses surrounding the seizure of the Terrex vehicles, which may do more harm than good.

… Angela Poh is a PhD candidate at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). Chang Jun Yan is an associate research fellow at RSIS and a PhD student at the University of Queensland.