"The Singaporean government has finalized three key points in its national agenda, which is in keeping with its stance against naming of the new Indonesian ship as KRI Usman-Harun," Guspiabri Sumowigeno, the director of Center for Indonesian National Policy Studies (Cinaps), stated in Jakarta on Tuesday.
He explained that the first point in the agenda was that Singapore, as a US ally, was keen to garner attention from the superpower with regard to getting more military support by sending a message that it is threatened by the Indonesian military's revival.
He further added that Singapore has been diligently looking for a loophole to increase its military capacity and capability by supporting the US global policy. It has also offered itself as a buffer country for safeguarding the US interests in the region.
To support the "China Containment" campaign to block the effect of China's revival as a world superpower, it also sent its forces to support the US-led occupation operations in Iraq in 2003-2008, which resulted in the US offering strong military support to the country, he explained.
"Singapore's military development far surpasses its objective needs. Through an agreement with the US since 1990, its Sembawang military base has also been used as a maintenance facility by the US military," he remarked. Full story
