The decision draws a line under the diplomatic dispute between the two island territories, that local media reports suggested had emanated from pressure from China.
Hong Kong’s commissioner of Customs and Excise Roy Tang said in a statement Tuesday that the troop carriers were seized due to a “suspected breach of the Hong Kong law. ”
Customs officials had finished their investigation and charges could be still laid, he added.
Singapore’s Defense Ministry has long maintained the vehicles were used “in routine overseas training and shipped back via commercial means as with previous exercises. ”
“SAF Terrexes are coming home to Singapore. Looking forward to this happy reunion with all Singaporeans in the Year of the Rooster,” Ng Eng Hen, Singapore’s defense minister posted on his Facebook page Tuesday.
At a regular press conference Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Singapore had violated Hong Kong law by shipping the carriers into the city.
“We hope the Singaporean side will cooperate with Hong Kong to handle the aftermath and also learn a lesson from the case,” she said.
Slap on the wrist for Singapore
Some analysts have viewed the impounding of these troop carriers as a slap on the wrist for Singapore over its tough stance on the South China Sea.
Singapore had urged China to abide by an international tribunal that ruled its claims to the waters were unlawful, Zhang Baohui, a professor of political science at Hong Kong’s Lingnan University, told CNN last year.
