US gets drone back, but Singapore still waiting on armoured troop carriers

South China Morning Post

20 December 2016

China and the US have settled the seizure of a maritime drone, but Beijing’s wrangle with Singapore over troop carriers held by Hong Kong drags on.

The Chinese ministry of defence said on Monday there was no progress to report.

Hong Kong customs discovered the “Terrex” infantry carrier vehicles aboard a civilian cargo ship going from Taiwan to Singapore on November 23 and impounded them. No formal reason has been given, but sources have said the shipping company lacked the required permits.

The vehicles were used as part of a military training exercise in Taiwan, under a defence cooperation agreement with Singapore.

…Hoo Tiang Boon, a foreign affairs expert at Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University, said the US drone case was slightly different, in that the technology involved was largely civilian and the incident occurred in international waters. Returning military vehicles would involve a complicated legal process.

Hoo said a stand-off in 2010 involving a South Korean armoured vehicle in Hong Kong took 51 days to resolve.

“We haven’t heard much about [the latest case] recently. I believe there are talks behind the scene,” Hoo said.

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Last updated on 21/12/2016