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A Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft is being deployed to Singapore amid growing tensions over territorial claims in the South China Sea:
The United States has deployed a P-8 Poseidon spy plane to Singapore for the first time. It is the latest in a series of US military actions seen as a response to China's increasingly assertive claims over territory in the South China Sea.
The US says it will also base a military reconnaissance plane at Singapore's Paya Lebar air base. US P-8s already operate from Japan and the Philippines, and surveillance flights have taken off from Malaysia. The P-8 was deployed on Monday, and will remain in Singapore until 14 December.
In addition to the P-8 deployment, the US says it will operate a military plane, either a P-8 Poseidon or a P-3 Orion, from Singapore for the foreseeable future, rotating planes on a quarterly basis. The US-Singapore agreement, announced after a meeting in Washington on Monday between US Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, also covers co-operation on counter-terrorism, fighting piracy, and disaster relief.
Previously: China's Island Factory
China Builds Artificial Islands in South China Sea
Chinese Weaponry Spotted on Artificial Islands
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 11 2015, @12:01AM
"so far the chinese are just "playing in the sand" albeit with grown-up toys that can move quiet a bit more sand on the beach then your regular plastic baby-shovel."
Threatening another nation's naval assets as they pass through isn't "playing in the sand," it's clear territorial grabbing, especially when said nation has rights over the territory as per international law.