Rilek1Corner

Tag: Hong Kong

  • Terrex Case: PRC Ship Captain And Shipping Company Face Charges From Hong Kong Authorities

    Terrex Case: PRC Ship Captain And Shipping Company Face Charges From Hong Kong Authorities

    The captain of a container ship belonging to shipping company APL has been charged with not having the required licence when his vessel stopped in Hong Kong with nine Singapore Armed Forces armoured vehicles last November.

    Pan Xuejun, 39, did not enter a plea at the West Kowloon Magistrate Court yesterday. The Chinese national faces one count of importing strategic commodities without the necessary licence. He was allowed bail of HK$50,000 (S$9,010), and his case has been adjourned to May 19. If convicted, Pan could face a fine and up to seven years in jail.

    APL is understood to be also facing prosecution.

    The Hong Kong authorities said it has “sufficient evidence to prove” that both APL and Pan had breached the law. It also said the Singapore Government could not be held responsible for the breach as it was only the consignee of the vehicles.

    The court heard that on Nov 23 last year, Pan was the captain of a vessel transporting the Singapore-made Terrex infantry carriers back to Singapore after a military exercise in Taiwan. The ship stopped in Hong Kong without an import licence issued by the city’s Director-General of Trade and Industry. This led Customs officials to seize the vehicles.

    According to the Customs authorities, vessels must declare all cargo on board before docking at its port. Generally, cargo in transit does not require an “import or export licence” as it will remain on the ship. However, such a licence is needed for “certain type of strategic commodities”.

     

    Source: www.tnp.sg

  • 3 Things SAF Can Do With The Returned Terrexes

    3 Things SAF Can Do With The Returned Terrexes

    Finally, the PRC government is returning our Terrexes to us. They had so much time with the Terrexes that they probably copied every inch of it and are already manufacturing battalion-sized Terrexes somewhere in China now.

    So what do we do with the Terrexes? Here are our suggestions:

    1. Deploy the Terrexes to ferry people in times of another inevitable MRT disruption. More specifically, they could ferry the very old and very young to their next destinations. Have you seen the crunch that people get themselves into when trying to get on the bridging bus services? With the Terrexes, no one will dare get in their way.Disruption 1Disruption 2
    2. Set them up to provide joy-rides at the Istana, at every public holiday open house. The Istana is sprawling. The children will love the adventure.Open House
    3. Display them in the Army Museum. The best way to learn and progress is to learn from mistakes made in history.Army Museum

     

    Any better ideas?

     

    Rilek1Corner

     

  • Lee Hsien Loong And South China Sea – “Roared Like A Tiger, But Now Quiet As A Mouse”

    Lee Hsien Loong And South China Sea – “Roared Like A Tiger, But Now Quiet As A Mouse”

    By: Tan Jee Say

    1. In July 2016, when the Hague tribunal ruled in favour of the Philippines but against some of China’s claims in the South China Sea, PM Lee loudly and vehemently urged China to abide by the ruling, adding that only when countries respect international rules, will small nations have a chance to survive in a global world.

    2. Many events have happened in the months following the Hague tribunal. US President-elect Trump had spoken on the SCS. China had flown a nuclear bomber over the SCS. But PM Lee has remained silent.

    3. Staying quiet or making neutral remarks softly, is the right thing to do for a small nation who is not a claimant in the disputed territories. Otherwise we may provoke hostile reactions from parties directly involved in the dispute.

    4. But after roaring on the scene like a tiger and then suddenly turning quiet as a mouse 5 months later, what does this episode tell us about the leadership of PM Lee who has said ad infinitum that Singapore requires exceptional leadership to survive. What has PM Lee shown us about his tiger-turned-mouse leadership? This reminds me of the famous line in the popular beer advertisement, “Give that man a Tiger”. Yes we want a tiger, a real tiger, not a paper tiger.

    5. This tiger-turned-mouse analogy is inspired by PM Lee’s castigation of WP’s performance , “You voted for a tiger in the chamber and you got a mouse in the House” (1 September 2015). Colourful imagery, PM. Now look at yourself in the mirror.

     

    Source: https://thesgdaily.com

  • PRC Government Tabloid: Punish Singapore – Melt Down Confiscated Terrexes

    PRC Government Tabloid: Punish Singapore – Melt Down Confiscated Terrexes

    China’s state run tabloid The Global Times wrote on Tuesday (29 November 2016) that the 9 Singaporean troop carriers which had been confiscated by China should be melted down at the steel mills to express their displeasure with Singapore over its military relationship with Taiwan.

    The Global Times wrote a scathing report blasting Singapore for its careless handling of its armoured vehicles and said that this implied Singapore’s failure to take China’s displeasure over the long standing Taiwan relationship seriously.

    It claimed that Singapore’s image among the ordinary Chinese people was so rotten that it was best that the PRC Govt sent the armoured carriers to the steel mills to be melted down as punishment for Singapore.

    Global Times added that Singapore should reflect on its hypocrisy and seek enlightenment in its relations with China.

    Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

  • Vivian Balakrishnan: Singapore-Taiwan Arrangement Longstanding, Does Not Affect Singapore’s Adherence To ‘One-China’ Policy

    Vivian Balakrishnan: Singapore-Taiwan Arrangement Longstanding, Does Not Affect Singapore’s Adherence To ‘One-China’ Policy

    Singapore will not allow any single issue to hijack its longstanding, multifaceted relationship with China, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said yesterday.

    He also said that Singapore’s training arrangements with Taiwan are long-running and not a secret, and that a large number of Singaporean men have trained there since 1975.

    “Everyone, including China, knows that we’ve had special arrangements with Taiwan for a long time and what we are doing there is no longer a secret,” Dr Balakrishnan said at The Straits Times Global Outlook Forum when asked about the seizure of Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) armoured vehicles at a Hong Kong port last Wednesday.

    He added that he had told his Chinese counterpart that Singapore values its longstanding relationships.

    The nine Terrex vehicles and equipment that were seized had been used in an SAF military exercise in Taiwan and were on an APL ship taking them back to Singapore.

    The ship was in transit in Hong Kong. Following the seizure, China asked Singapore on Monday to adhere to the “one China” policy.

    Separately, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said yesterday that “Singapore fully respects and supports the ‘one China’ policy… We play a positive role in cross-strait relations, and we will continue to do so”.

    Speaking at a visit to a military camp, Dr Ng said officials from shipping line APL met Hong Kong Customs officials yesterday.

    Mindef officials will monitor the meeting closely, he said. He hoped it will clarify the reasons and legal basis for the detention. Mindef will decide on the appropriate course of action based on its outcome.

    Asked if the incident would affect Singapore’s training arrangements overseas, Dr Ng said the SAF will continue to train abroad based on bilateral agreements.

    “We adhere to the ‘one China’ policy. Any training matters between us and other countries are bilateral, and we should not unnecessarily, until the facts come out, muddle the picture and impute various motives.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com