Nine Singapore armoured troop carriers impounded by Hong Kong while in transit from military exercises in Taiwan are on their way back home, the city-state’s defence minister said Friday.
The release of the Terrex vehicles closes the curtain on a diplomatic row that also involved China, which has sovereignty over Hong Kong and considers Taiwan a renegade island awaiting reunification.
“Terrexes left Hong Kong port this morning at 0415hrs. Next stop, home,” Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said in a Facebook post.
Ng had said on Wednesday that the journey would take a week. If there isn’t a meme of Ng as Scott Pilgrim waiting for his Amazon package, there should be.
Hong Kong customs authorities had impounded the vehicles in November while they were being shipped home following exercises in Taiwan, where land-starved Singapore has for decades trained its troops.
Following the seizure, China lodged a diplomatic protest to Singapore over its military cooperation with Taiwan.
Ties between China and Singapore were already strained over the city-state’s perceived support for Southeast Asian nations disputing Beijing’s extensive territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Hong Kong is semi-autonomous after being handed back by Britain to China in 1997. But Beijing controls foreign affairs issues and there are increasing fears over its interference in other matters.
With the return of military vehicles, this would mark the end of a diplomatic row between Singapore, Hong Kong and China. Ng enthused that he was looking forward to “this happy reunion with all Singaporeans in the Year of the Rooster.”
Additional reporting by Coconuts Singapore
