Singapore to get US nuke cover
14 March 2005: Singapore is in an advanced stage to get the United StatesÂ’ nuclear cover, and will pay $3 billion as advance, and subsequently make payments every two years.
Diplomatic sources said that during Singapore deputy PM Lee Hsien LoongÂ’s unofficial visit to Taiwan in July last year, the US nuclear cover was discussed, and America will extend the cover provided to Taiwan to Singapore, as the most cost-effective option.
Top sources said that Singapore will lease an Indonesian island to emplace its missile defenses, and the nuclear cover will counteract threats to its sovereignty that it perceives from upcoming Malaysian military assets on the Penang coast, and from China.
While the US provides nuclear cover to Japan and South Korea at no cost, Taiwan pays for American protection, and the same formula has been adopted in case of Singapore, whose talks on the issue with the US have been kept highly secret.
Diplomats said a nuclear cover would provoke others in the region to scram for their own safety nets, including building their own nuclear weapons, and it could extend all the way to countries in IndiaÂ’s neighbourhood, like Bangladesh, seeking and perhaps getting ChinaÂ’s atomic protection.
Top sources said that several attempts to get Malaysia to desist from building its military assets have proved fruitless, and in desperation, Singapore is proceeding for nuclear cover.
from
http://srirangan.net/india-defence/node/134man. is this true?
