China Decries US P-8 Deployment in Singapore as 'Regional Militarization ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Shannon Tiezzi)
America entering into a defence cooperation agreement with Singapore, 2015 ( Image credits- DOD, USA) Source- The Diplomat Author- Shannon Tiezzi As my colleague Prashanth Parameswaran noted yesterday, the United States and Singapore just signed an enhanced defense cooperation agreement. The agreement covered a wide range of areas, including expanded defense dialogues and increased cooperation on cybersecurity and counterterrorism. However, the announcement that garnered the most attention was the news that Singapore will allow U.S. surveillance aircraft to operate from the city-state. A U.S. P-8 Poseidon aircraft will be deployed in Singapore from December 7 to 14 – and it is widely expected to be used in part to keep tabs on China’s activities in the South China Sea. China was none too happy with the agreement. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters that “the overall situation in the South China Sea is peaceful and stable,” just as regional count