China’s military paying ‘close attention’ to US spy plane deployment in Singapore

China's military is paying close attention to an agreement between the United States and Singapore to deploy the US P8 Poseidon spy plane to the city state and hopes the move does not harm regional stability, the defence ministry said.

“We are paying close attention to how the relevant situation develops and hope bilateral defence cooperation between the relevant countries is beneficial to regional peace and stability and not the opposite,” the ministry said in a brief statement.

READ MORE: Chinese jets training with missiles fly by disputed South China Sea waters near Vietnam in new response to US warships

China’s foreign ministry, which is at odds with Washington over the South China Sea, said on Tuesday the move was aimed at militarising the region.

In a joint statement after a meeting in Washington on Monday, US Defence Secretary Ash Carter and Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen welcomed the inaugural deployment of the aircraft in Singapore from December 7 to 14.

A US defence official said further deployments in Singapore could be expected. The move comes at a time of heightened tensions in the South China Sea.

China claims almost the entire energy-rich waters, through which more than US$5 trillion of maritime trade passes each year. The Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan have overlapping claims.