I guess Tharm,despite his million dollar salary can't formulate a coherent policy at all. On one hand, a PAP think tank, the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies unequivocally states that China is the biggest military threat to SIngapore and SE Asia, and they indeed sparked an arms race in SE Asia. On the other hand, the RSN conducts naval exercise and training with PRC's PLN hence exposing our naval warships capabilities and operating procedures. So, are we their fucking enemy or friend?
Singapore, China complete inaugural bilateral naval exercise
Singapore and China's navies complete their first-ever four-day Exercise Maritime Cooperation, which involves the RSS Intrepid, the RSS Valiant and the Yulin frigate.
SINGAPORE: The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and China’s People’s Liberation Army (Navy) on Monday (May 25) concluded a new joint naval exercise, hailed as a "milestone in the bilateral defence relationship", by Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF).
The inaugural four-day Exercise Maritime Cooperation series involved RSN’s RSS Intrepid frigate and RSS Valiant missile corvette, as well as China’s Yulin frigate. The exercise involved conventional naval warfare serials, such as gunnery firings and manoeuvring drills, said MINDEF in a news release.
Personnel from both navies also took part in exercise planning and combined simulator training.
Both navies “can learn from each other and deepen professional knowledge to strengthen mutual trust and understanding,” said RSN Fleet commander Colonel Lew Chuen Hong, in highlighting the growth in professional interactions between RSN and the Chinese navy.
“Exercise Maritime Cooperation reflects our common goals and beliefs, and is a new achievement of the exchanges and interactions between both our navies," said Commander South Sea Fleet Rear Admiral Shen Jinlong from the Chinese navy.
MINDEF said the new bilateral naval exercise underscores warm and growing ties between the two countries, as they mark 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties this year.
Southeast Asia: billions of dollars in weapons to counter the threat from China
Over the past 15 years, defence spending by ASEAN nations has gone up more than three folds. By 2020, it should reach US$ 52 billion, especially in naval procurement. As tensions in the South China Sea rise, Southeast Asian nations buy submarines, amphibious craft and corvettes.
Singapore (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Southeast Asian nations are getting into an arms race, with spending centred on their navies and coastguards, this according to IHS Janes Defence Weekly.
Defence spending by members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines – has steadily increased in the past few years and is expected to increase even more over the next decade. This year, it is projected to reach US$ 42 billion.
According to data provided by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), military expenditures in Southeast Asia, except for Myanmar and Brunei Darussalam, were US$ 14.4 billion collectively in 2004 and should reach an estimated $52 billion by 2020.
Much of the spending will go into naval procurement because of rising tensions in the South China Sea, where Beijing is building military bases on artificial islands and through which US$ 5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.
Although the latest economic downturn has somewhat reduced military budgets, except for Singapore, the region’s economic boom over the past two decades has allowed for rising defence spending.
For instance, Singapore has built six Formidable-class multi-role frigates in partnership with France’s state-controlled naval contractor DCNS. Similarly, Malaysia has ordered six corvettes worth around 9 billion ringgit ($2.50 billion) from DCNS.
Vietnam has taken possession of three Russian-built Kilo-attack submarines and has three more on order, something experts say underscores Hanoi’s determination to counter China’s more powerful navy.
Singapore, which has four second-hand submarines, has ordered two from Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. Indonesia has ordered three from South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding (042660.KS).
“Submarine force development suggests the navies are wary of maritime power projection capabilities in the region,” said Rukmani Gupta, senior armed forces analyst at IHS Janes.
The Philippines hopes to get by year-end the first of ten coastguard vessels Japan is building for it. Japan is also supplying used navy patrol boats to Vietnam.
“As Southeast Asian navies add new capabilities for warfighting, any future conflict in the region is likely to be faster, more intense and more lethal, and therefore perhaps more devastating,” wrote in a research paper Richard Bitzinger, a security expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
Singapore, China complete inaugural bilateral naval exercise
Singapore and China's navies complete their first-ever four-day Exercise Maritime Cooperation, which involves the RSS Intrepid, the RSS Valiant and the Yulin frigate.
SINGAPORE: The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and China’s People’s Liberation Army (Navy) on Monday (May 25) concluded a new joint naval exercise, hailed as a "milestone in the bilateral defence relationship", by Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF).
The inaugural four-day Exercise Maritime Cooperation series involved RSN’s RSS Intrepid frigate and RSS Valiant missile corvette, as well as China’s Yulin frigate. The exercise involved conventional naval warfare serials, such as gunnery firings and manoeuvring drills, said MINDEF in a news release.
Personnel from both navies also took part in exercise planning and combined simulator training.
Both navies “can learn from each other and deepen professional knowledge to strengthen mutual trust and understanding,” said RSN Fleet commander Colonel Lew Chuen Hong, in highlighting the growth in professional interactions between RSN and the Chinese navy.
“Exercise Maritime Cooperation reflects our common goals and beliefs, and is a new achievement of the exchanges and interactions between both our navies," said Commander South Sea Fleet Rear Admiral Shen Jinlong from the Chinese navy.
MINDEF said the new bilateral naval exercise underscores warm and growing ties between the two countries, as they mark 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties this year.
Southeast Asia: billions of dollars in weapons to counter the threat from China
Over the past 15 years, defence spending by ASEAN nations has gone up more than three folds. By 2020, it should reach US$ 52 billion, especially in naval procurement. As tensions in the South China Sea rise, Southeast Asian nations buy submarines, amphibious craft and corvettes.
Singapore (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Southeast Asian nations are getting into an arms race, with spending centred on their navies and coastguards, this according to IHS Janes Defence Weekly.
Defence spending by members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines – has steadily increased in the past few years and is expected to increase even more over the next decade. This year, it is projected to reach US$ 42 billion.
According to data provided by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), military expenditures in Southeast Asia, except for Myanmar and Brunei Darussalam, were US$ 14.4 billion collectively in 2004 and should reach an estimated $52 billion by 2020.
Much of the spending will go into naval procurement because of rising tensions in the South China Sea, where Beijing is building military bases on artificial islands and through which US$ 5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.
Although the latest economic downturn has somewhat reduced military budgets, except for Singapore, the region’s economic boom over the past two decades has allowed for rising defence spending.
For instance, Singapore has built six Formidable-class multi-role frigates in partnership with France’s state-controlled naval contractor DCNS. Similarly, Malaysia has ordered six corvettes worth around 9 billion ringgit ($2.50 billion) from DCNS.
Vietnam has taken possession of three Russian-built Kilo-attack submarines and has three more on order, something experts say underscores Hanoi’s determination to counter China’s more powerful navy.
Singapore, which has four second-hand submarines, has ordered two from Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. Indonesia has ordered three from South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding (042660.KS).
“Submarine force development suggests the navies are wary of maritime power projection capabilities in the region,” said Rukmani Gupta, senior armed forces analyst at IHS Janes.
The Philippines hopes to get by year-end the first of ten coastguard vessels Japan is building for it. Japan is also supplying used navy patrol boats to Vietnam.
“As Southeast Asian navies add new capabilities for warfighting, any future conflict in the region is likely to be faster, more intense and more lethal, and therefore perhaps more devastating,” wrote in a research paper Richard Bitzinger, a security expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
