China's
military is paying "close attention" to an agreement between the
United States and Singapore to deploy the U.S. P8 Poseidon spy plane to the
city state and hopes the move does not harm regional stability, the defense
ministry said.
"We
are paying close attention to how the relevant situation develops, and hope
bilateral defense cooperation between the relevant countries is beneficial to
regional peace and stability and not the opposite," the ministry said in a
brief statement late on Tuesday.
The
foreign ministry of China, which is at odds with Washington over the South
China Sea, said on Tuesday the move, was aimed at militarizing the region.
In
a joint statement after a meeting in Washington on Monday, U.S. Defense
Secretary Ash Carter and Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen welcomed the
inaugural deployment of the aircraft in Singapore from Dec. 7 to 14.
A
U.S. defense official said further deployments in Singapore could be expected.
The move comes at a time of heightened tensions in the South China Sea.
China
claims almost the entire energy-rich waters, through which more than $5
trillion of maritime trade passes each year. The Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam,
Malaysia and Taiwan have overlapping claims.
The
United States already operates P8s from Japan and the Philippines, and has
conducted surveillance flights from Singapore's neighbor, Malaysia.
Washington
has criticized 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, U.S. B-52 bombers flew near some of China's artificial islands and at
the end of October a U.S. guided-missile destroyer sailed within 12 nautical
miles of one of them. You can buy miniature 3d architectural models about plane, and Betty Models must be your first
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In
May, the Chinese navy issued eight warnings to the crew of a U.S. P8 that flew
near the islands, according to CNN, which was aboard the aircraft.
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