China’s defense ministry said, China’s military is paying “close attention” to an agreement between the U.S. and Singapore to deploy an American spy plane to the city state and hopes the move does not harm regional stability.
China claims that the U.S. deployment was aimed at militarizing the region.
However, a spokesman for the U.S. 7th fleet has been quoted as saying that the move had nothing to do with U.S.-China tensions in the South China Sea but rather about the partnership with Singapore and other partners in the region.
The U.S. has previously launched its p-8 planes – modified Boeing 737s which gather intelligence and can hunt down submarines – from bases in Japan and the Philippines, and has also conducted surveillance flights from Malaysia.
In Singapore, the planes started operating from Paya Lebar Airbase on Monday and the deployment will end next Monday.
Asked about future deployments, the U.S. navy did not want to go into details of specific dates, saying they were subject to ongoing planning and coordination.
