China’s nationalist state-owned tabloid The Global Times continues its run of throwing shade at Singapore for the second day in a row over the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF)’s military ties with Taiwan.
The influential paper blasted Singapore’s “carelessness” with the armoured vehicles currently impounded in Hong Kong en route back home from Taiwan — a characteristic that they believe to reflect the failure to take China’s disapproval of the self-ruled nation seriously. Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province, see.
The tension between China and Singapore loomed bigger in recent months, especially in regards to the South China Sea issue. Beijing is claiming sovereignty of waters and islands in the South China Sea, and is concerned about Singapore’s suspected position against them in the dispute.
Anywho, China is not too happy with finding SAF military vehicles being used in overseas exercises in Taiwan. Just yesterday, an op-ed published in The Global Times called Singapore hypocritical for continuing a military relationship with Taiwan despite promises not to do so in 2011.
Today, the same paper (which is published by the ruling Communist Party’s own newspaper People’s Daily) continued to castigate the city-state, calling the nine detained Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles to be “melted down”.
“Singapore’s image in China is now so rotten that ordinary Chinese people think the best thing to do with the ‘confiscated’ armoured vehicles that ‘walked right into our trap’ is to send them to the steel mills to be melted down.”
Somehow we doubt that “ordinary Chinese people” even give a damn about SAF vehicles in Hong Kong. After all, The Global Times is pretty known for its hyperbolic, provocative editorials.
The paper then suggested that Singapore use this incident to find “enlightenment” than provoke more resentment with China.
Singapore’s own foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan downplayed the ongoing issue this morning. Speaking at The Straits Times Global Outlook Forum, he assured that Singapore will not overreact to the seizure of military vehicles, and will not allow any single issue to hijack the relationship with China.
“It will be a footnote on how to do things strictly, carefully and by the law,” he said, as quoted by The Straits Times. “It’s not a strategic incident.”
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