Hong Kong yesterday said the Singaporean government would not be criminally prosecuted over a licensing breach in the territory in connection with the seizure of nine armored vehicles last year.
Hong Kong authorities seized the Singaporean military’s troops carriers in November as they were on their way home from military exercises in Taiwan.
After the vehicles were seized, Beijing warned countries against maintaining military ties with Taiwan.
Photo: AP
Hong Kong Commissioner of Customs and Excise Roy Tang (鄧忍光), speaking to reporters a day after Hong Kong said it would release the carriers, said the shipper could move them after all relevant paperwork had been completed.
“We did not identify any information which points to the possibility of the Singapore government being involved in the breach of the licensing conditions,” Tang said.
“The Singapore government, from the very beginning, has not been the subject of the investigation,” he said.
Tang was referring to the alleged criminal breach of a licensing requirement related to the import, export and transshipment of “strategic commodities” through Hong Kong — one of the world’s freest and busiest ports.
“The central government is of course aware of the issue,” Tang said, when asked if Beijing had intervened and whether there were any political considerations in returning the vehicles.
The seizure came amid mounting regional uncertainty and diplomatic strains between China and Singapore, which has strengthened its longstanding security ties with the US in recent years and remains concerned about Beijing’s assertive territorial stance in the South China Sea.
US President Donald Trump, who was inaugurated on Friday last week, upset Beijing before taking office by casting doubt on the “one China” principle.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) said at a daily briefing that the Hong Kong government handled the issue in accordance with the law.
“China has made representations with Singapore about this and hopes the Singapore government earnestly and scrupulously abides by the ‘one China’ principle,” Hua said.
Since a criminal prosecution could be involved, Tang said he was not in a position to divulge the parties under scrutiny nor any charges. Details would be made public in court, if it came to that, he said.
Responding to a question on whether Singapore had provided any concessions to Hong Kong, Singaporean Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen (黃永宏) said the outcome was “positive.”
“This issue is about the customs disputes... I don’t think there is any need to go beyond that,” Ng said, when asked if Singapore would continue to hold military exercises in Taiwan.
Commercial shipping line APL had said it would make special efforts to expedite the process to get the carriers back to Singapore, he added.
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