So yesterday various media publications in Hong Kong and Singapore put up astonishing headlines about how the nine armoured vehicles belonging to the Singapore Armed Forces seized by Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department had just… vanished.
Apple Daily reported that the shrouded Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles were no longer seen at their usual spot at the Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal yesterday morning. Security guards at the terminal refused to respond to media queries, raising suspicions even further.
“They have gone missing! The Singaporean government hasn’t responded yet,” the narrator on one of Apple Daily’s classic animated news videos said.
Screenshot: Apple Daily
Alas, the disappearing act was nothing that dramatic. Speaking to HKFP, the Customs and Excise Department assured that the vehicles were simply kept in an indoor storage place at the Tuen Mun terminal. Since Dec. 6, in fact.
Awkward.
In any case, officials from Singapore’s Ministry of Defence are still slogging hard to get their vehicles back home. It’s been more than a month since the military hardware was seized by Hong Kong customs following a request for routine inspections. The armoured carriers were detained on Nov. 23 last year while being transported from Taiwan (following military exercises held there) to Singapore via commercial shipping through Hong Kong.
This complicates things with China, who firmly oppose Singapore’s (or any other country’s) relationship with Taiwan — a nation that the Chinese government regards as a breakaway province.
The detainment of the Terrex vehicles dealt such a blow to the Singapore Armed Forces that Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen reflected that the incident was a low point of his 2016:
Chin up, mate. At least David Bowie can’t die again.
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