Trust Issues - Singapore learns hard lessons about China At the center of the issue is that Singapore conducts military training in Taiwan. Singapore's secretive Starlight training program was instituted following a 1975 agreement, and it has continued unabated over the years. These Terrex ICVs were returning to Singapore after a round of training, and they even featured Taiwanese number plates to disguise the vehicles' origins.
This training is unilateral rather than bilateral and, while China dislikes the idea of any country training in or with Taiwan, it has maintained a stony silence over the years regarding Singapore's sensitive mission in Taiwan. But no more, it seems!
Why this change of heart? It relates to Singapore's more vocal disagreement with China's assertive claims in the South China Sea, and its resistance to China's narrative about the regional security architecture.
Of course, Singapore hosts U.S. Navy warships - currently one Littoral Combat Ship but building up to four - as well as P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft that have operated from Singaporean runways, which is cause for further Chinese angst.
Clearly a tipping point was reached, and Beijing has decided to remind Singapore of its place in the hierarchy.Among his comments, he said, "We call on Singapore to act in accordance with the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in handling the matter," and that Singapore needed to "abide by the one China principle"The editorial claimed, "For quite some time, Singapore has been pretending to seek a balance between China and the U.S., yet has been taking Washington's side in reality."