Singapore says seizure of vehicles by Hong Kong "not a strategic incident"

Singapore: The seizure of nine Singaporean armoured vehicles by Hong Kong customs was "not a strategic incident" in the Sino-Singaporean relationship, the city-state`s foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

The nine troop carriers were impounded in Hong Kong last week upon their return from Taiwan, sparking a rebuke from China`s foreign ministry about maintaining military ties with the self-ruled island, which Beijing considers a breakaway province.

"I wouldn`t overreact to that ... we expect commercial providers of services to strictly comply with the law," Balakrishnan was quoted as saying by Singapore`s Straits Times newspaper.

"It will be a footnote on how to do things strictly, carefully and by the law. It`s not a strategic incident."