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Singaporean warships visit

Two Singaporean navy missile patrol boats payed a port call at Kaohsiung harbor yester-day after an exercise with Taiwan's navy, military sources said. The two vessels, believed to be of the Singa-porean navy's "Victory" class, had docked at the port for at least two days. Military sources said the two vessels had completed routine drills with Taiwan's navy. The visit comes after a naval flotilla of three vessels quietly set sail from Taiwan recently for Singapore and three South Pacific states on a training mission. But some politicians in Taiwan are worried that Singapore's historically close links with the nation's military could be under threat from Chinese overtures. China is trying to woo Singapore's military by providing it with training facilities on Hainan island, according to the DPP. "Singaporean troops being trained here told us they would not come here next year," DPP Legislator Peter Lin told reporters after several DPP members issued a statement this week detailing the alleged Chinese initiative. Lin said "it was part of Beijing's bid to further squeeze Taiwan internationally."

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