S'pore, RI hold joint exercises

S'pore, RI hold joint exercises

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Singapore's top military officer said
yesterday the country must be ready to cope with any threats to
regional stability.

Lt. Gen. Bey Soo Khiang, chief of Singapore's Defense Forces,
was speaking as Singapore opened bi-annual exercises with the
Indonesian navy.

"From an SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) perspective, there are
really no immediate threats," Bey told Reuters in an interview.

"But what we want to say is that a threat can be realized or
can rear its ugly head very quickly...like the Taiwan Strait
crisis," he said.

Tensions rose last March when war games and missile tests by
China in waters off Taiwan cast a shadow over the island's first
presidential election.

Washington then ordered two aircraft carrier battle groups
into the area, triggering a row with Beijing, which suspected the
United States was supporting what China saw as Nationalist-ruled
Taiwan's moves towards independence.

"So the SAF cannot wait for threats to be realized. We have to
anticipate, think ahead and try and build a well-balanced,
capable SAF, able to respond to various forms of flashpoints or
threats," Bey said.

The SAF must accomplish its mission at a time when the
manpower supply in Singapore is very tight. He said Singapore's
strong economic growth has made retention of military personnel
difficult at times.

"We just have to be realistic and face the situation and think
of creative solutions to go around the problem," Bey said, adding
that one way is greater use of automation in military operations.

Units of the Singapore and Indonesian navies opened yesterday
the 14th bi-annual naval exercise between the two countries. The
exercise, called Ex Eagle, will end in Jakarta on Nov. 26, a
joint statement by the two navies said.

The ships will hold their exercises in the Singapore Strait,
South China Sea and Java Sea. It will conduct day and night
encounter exercises, anti-submarine warfare, a minefield transit
exercise and practice surface target firing.

The Singaporean navy will be led by two missile corvettes and
one navy gunboat, among others. The Indonesian navy will be
represented by a patrol ship and two torpedo patrol boats.

More than 500 sailors and officers from the two countries will
take part in the naval exercise.