ROC NAVAL FLEET NO LONGER WELCOME IN SINGAPORE|消息曝光 敦睦艦隊新加坡之行臨時喊卡

The ROC navy of friendship embarked on a new journey this March and was scheduled to go to Singapore upon the country's invitation. However, the goodwill visit has been cancelled in the last minute Analysts believe the halt has something to do with China and it's unlikely for Taiwan and the city-state fo have any open exchanges in the near future. As the ROC Navy's Dunmu fleet started its long distance voyage, President Tsai Ing-wen personally waved if off. Originally, Singapore was supposed to be the first stop on the voyage. This would have been the first time since 2002 that the Dunmu fleet had stopped in Singapore and would have been symbolic of a higher level of Taiwan-Singapore relations. However, as soon as this was publicized, it was quickly stopped by Singapore. ==JIE ZHONG Researcher, National Institute of Policy Research== As far as I know after 2005, there has been no planning for Singapore and national naval vessels must raise a national flag, so from that point of view, there is no guarantee of the situation, so naval vessels may as well not go. The Ministry of National Defense was low key and would not confirm the news. Military analysts say that back in 2005, Taiwan-Singapore military exchange was under the table. Last year, Hong Kong seized Singapore armoured vehicles and since then Singapore has been very careful. If the Dunmu naval vessels were allowed into port, it would be seen as symbolic of Taiwan sovereignty and create more trouble than secret high level diplomacy. The fleet would have to run up national flags and stay in port for a length of time. Analysts say that with current China-Singapore relations, this sort of overt military relationship would not be permitted. ==FAN SHIH-PING School of Politics Professor, NTNU== Since last year, relations between China and Singapore have not been very good. China has put great pressure on Singapore and so Singapore wants to use this method to express goodwill towards China, so the victim here is the relationship between Taiwan and Singapore. After the Tsai administration came to power, it is really not as optimistic as some were hoping. Analysts say that Singapore has both political and economic pressure leveraged by China and to repair its relationship with China, there is very little hope that the Dunmu fleet will go anywhere near Singapore. However, this does not necessarily mean that Taiwan and Singapore's relations are worsening, but that the status quo is maintained through under the table developments. High-profile declarations of sovereignty, such as running up national flags and coming into Singapore port are not going to happen while the cross-strait relationship is at such a low ebb. TRANSLATED BY：CLARE LEAR 今年3月底，國內3支敦睦艦隊出航，期間傳出，新加坡主動向我方表達善意，歡迎敦睦艦隊前往星國，不過，卻因為消息曝光，臨時喊卡！學者認為，壓力來自對岸中國，目前台星外交關係，還只能檯面下發展，短期內難有突破。 敦睦遠航支隊啟程前，總統蔡英文親自「送船」，創下敦睦遠航開航半世紀以來首例，原來，傳出此行，將新加坡列為遠航首站停靠國。這將是2002年以來，敦睦遠航支隊再次拜訪新加坡，象徵台星關係更上層樓。但因消息曝了光，星國緊急喊卡。 ==國家政策研究基金會研究員 揭仲== 據我所知在2005年之後 基本上就都不太規劃去新加坡 而且軍艦代表國家 他一定要升國旗 所以如果在這一點 沒辦法確保的狀況之下 所以海軍到後來寧可不去 軍方低調不願證實相關消息，軍事專家表示，早在2005年，台星雙邊軍事交流，就只能轉為檯面下，加上去年香港扣押新加坡裝甲車事件影響，星國更小心翼翼。至於敦睦軍艦靠港，更備視為台灣主權的象徵，比高官大使秘密外交更麻煩，需要升國旗，停留時間長，學者分析，以目前新加坡和中國雙邊關係，不可能進行如此高調軍事外交． ==台師大政研所教授 范世平== 去年到現在為止啊 大陸跟新加坡的關係 其實是並不好的 中共的壓力（施壓）非常大 那或許新加坡 是想利用這個方式 來跟中共來表達他的善意 那這樣等於就犧牲了 跟台星之間的一個關係 蔡政府上來之後的台星關係 可以說是並不如 外界所想像中的是那麼樂觀 學者分析，新加坡有來自，中國政治與經濟壓力，為了修補關係，台灣敦睦艦隊前往星國機率不高，但即使如此，台灣與新加坡關係，也不至於惡化，只會維持現狀，檯面下發展，高調宣示主權，升國旗停靠新加坡港灣這景象，在兩岸關係如此冰冷的現狀，恐怕短時間內看不到． 記者 黃立偉 張國樑 台北報導