Does Hong Kong’s seizure of armoured vehicles give Beijing access to Singapore’s military secrets?
Military observer ‘pretty sure’ China’s experts have already examined impounded vehicles
The ongoing dispute over the interception of nine Singaporean military vehicles in Hong Kong has given the mainland a chance to access the vehicles’ secrets, according to a military observer.
Macau-based military expert Antony Wong Dong said the detained vehicles are AV-81s, the most advanced military vehicles Singapore has.
“I’m pretty sure experts with the People’s Liberation Army’s 617 Factory in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, and the China North Vehicle Research Institute based in Beijing have already examined the nine armoured vehicles stuck in Hong Kong,” Wong said, adding that the vehicles were of an advanced type in Asia.
The 617 Factory is the largest manufacturer of tanks in China and the China North Vehicle Research Institute, formerly the 201 Institute, is the leading developer of tanks on the mainland.
“Military experts may have access to both the software and hardware of the military communications system, which is considered top secret,” Wong said. “As a result, the Singaporean military may have to change the entire communications system in the worst case scenario.”