US deploys Poseidon spy plane in Singapore for the first time

[Howitzer]

US deploys Poseidon spy plane in Singapore for the first time, amid China tensions

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 08 December, 2015, 3:05pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 08 December, 2015, 3:05pm

Reuters in Washington

A US Navy Boeing Poseidon P8 aircraft sits on display at the 2014 Singapore Airshow . Photo: Reuters

The United States has deployed its P8 Poseidon spy plane in Singapore for the first time, in a fresh response to China over its pursuit of territorial claims in the South China Sea.

In a joint statement after a meeting in Washington on Monday, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen welcomed the inaugural deployment of the aircraft in Singapore from December 7 to 14.

A US defence official said further deployments in Singapore could be expected. The move comes at a time of heightened tensions in the South China Sea over China's assertive pursuit of territorial claims there.

The US deployment is likely to anger China, which is at odds with Washington over the South China Sea. China claims almost the entire energy-rich sea, through which more than US$5 trillion of maritime trade passes each year.

The United States already operates P8s from Japan and the Philippines, and has also conducted surveillance flights from Singapore’s neighbor, Malaysia.

The statement said the P8 deployment in Singapore would “promote greater interoperability with regional militaries through participation in bilateral and multilateral exercises, while providing timely support for regional HADR and maritime security efforts.”

HADR is an acronym for Humanitarian and Disaster Relief operations.

The United States and Singapore have long-standing defence ties and the announcement of the P8 deployment was part of an enhanced Defence Co-operation Agreement signed by Carter and Ng, which also covers co-operation in fighting transnational terrorism and piracy.

Washington has criticised China's building of artificial islands in the South China Sea's disputed Spratly archipelago, and has conducted sea and air patrols near them recently.

Last month, US President Barack Obama called on countries to stop building artificial islands in the sea and militarising their claims. He said the United States would continue to assert its freedom-of-navigation rights.

China responded by saying it would continue to build both military and civilian facilities on the islands.

Washington has been working to build up defence relationships with South China Sea rival claimants, which include Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

Last month, US B-52 bombers flew near some of China's artificial islands and at the end of October a US guided-missile destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of one of them.

In May, the Chinese navy issued eight warnings to the crew of a US P8 that flew near the islands, according to CNN, which was aboard the US aircraft.

 

[harimau]

Is Ah Loong Baba?? Why he wanna sabo Cina in SGP?

 

[Kangtangman]

Our PM indeed belongs to the strait Chinese descendent.

 

[harimau]

To be fair to the Chinese, Ah Loong should also base some of their spy planes in Singapore.

 

[Hound]

As China fumes, Singapore military chief defends US patrol plane’s deployment

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 10 December, 2015, 2:28pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 10 December, 2015, 2:34pm

Kyodo in Washington

A US Navy Boeing Poseidon P8 aircraft sits on display at the Singapore Airshow last year. Photo: Reuters

Singapore's defence minister has spoken out in support of the temporary deployment of a US patrol plane to his country following criticism from Beijing that the move would inflame tensions in the South China Sea.

Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that the US presence is “stabilising” the Asia-Pacific region and the deployment of the P-8 antisubmarine patrol airplane is “within the context of” a bilateral agreement on security cooperation.

Ng made the comments after he agreed with US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to the deployment of the P-8 Poseidon plane from December 7 to 14 during their talks at the US Defence Department on Monday.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry criticised the stationing of the US airplane, saying: “It goes against the common and long-term interests of countries in the region.”

The defence chiefs from Singapore and the United States reached the agreement as the Pentagon ratcheted up military surveillance in the South China Sea over China’s reclamation and construction of facilities on artificial lands it created in the disputed Spratly Islands.

In October, the US military operated a guided-missile destroyer within what China claims to be its territorial seas around one of the artificial islands, in a move apparently aimed at undermining Beijing’s use of land reclamation to support its territorial claims.

Ng told a think-tank event in the US capital on Wednesday that China and Southeast Asian countries, including those involved in territorial rows with China, should step up efforts to build mutual confidence and prevent confrontation in the region.

“Prolonged and unresolved South China Sea disputes will weaken strategic trust in the region,” Ng said, referring to the need for China and Southeast Asian nations to early conclude a code of conduct aimed at resolving the disputes peacefully based on a 2002 accord.

 

[Froggy]

Poseidon All The Way!!!!!!!!

 

[greedy and cunning]

reproduced article:
The American Drive for World Domination

In August 2002 George W. Bush (whose public utterances finally demonstrated that he is mentally deranged, unhinged, demented and a lunatic) and his crony Tony Blair were talking up their intention to attack Iraq, going on like a broken record about its "weapons of mass destruction", hypocritically ignoring the facts that (a) it is the U.S. which leads the world in the manufacture and use of such weapons (Germany and Japan 1945, Vietnam and Cambodia 1960s and 70s, Iraq 1991, Kosovo 1999 and Afghanistan 2001) and (b) it is Israel, America's client state in the Middle East, which already possesses over 100 atomic bombs and is entirely willing to use them against its neighbours.

Iraq's immediate neighbours did not consider Iraq a military threat, so why did the U.S.? Iraq's missiles could reach parts of Europe and Russia but neither Europe nor Russia considered Iraq a threat; indeed, in mid-2002 Russia signed a multi-billion dollar trade deal with Iraq. Only Israel considered Iraq a threat (consistent with the pan-Arab hatred of Israel for its brutality toward the Palestinians), and in the U.S. Congress and in the Bush Administration what Israel wants Israel gets.

As British elder statesman Tony Benn said, the American desire for a war against Iraq was based not on any concern over what weapons Saddam Hussein might possess but sprang from the desire of the U.S. to grab Iraq's oil.

Bush's "War on Terrorism" is not about terrorism (except insofar as staged terrorist acts are an important part of the propaganda campaign) — it's about control of all of the Earth's economic resources, not just oil.

The United States government wants economic control and exploitation of the vast oil and mineral wealth of the Middle east and Central Asia, and if perpetual worldwide war is required to achieve this then so be it. American foreign policy makers believe that American military power will enable them to win such a war and that (a) a war would enable them to remain in power indefinitely (elections will become a thing of the past or will be rigged), (b) would be good for American (and British) weapons manufacturers and (c) would avert the looming financial collapse and economic depression in the U.S. (since, many believe, it worked before in the 1930s military build-up to World War II).

 

[GoldenDragon]

Poseidon All The Way!!!!!!!!

This Poseidon will better serve the interest of male Singaporeans.