Singapore has become the first Southeast Asian nation to be listed among the world’s top 10 arms importers by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) since the end of the Vietnam war, reports Reuters.
Singapore’s arms imports had leapt by 146 per cent, Indonesia’s by 84 per cent and Malaysia’s by a staggering 722 per cent between 2005 and 2009, compared with the previous five years, the Swedish think tank said in its annual report today. (See the list of arms purchases in the next post.)
China’s growing power has triggered a defence buildup in Southeast Asia and territorial disputes in the South China Sea could turn violent, Sipri added.
This chart was generated by Sipri’s arms transfers database, which can be found here on its website.
China is the world’s top arms purchaser followed by India, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Greece, Israel, Singapore, America, Algeria and Pakistan, according to Sipri.
Singapore added six frigates and 32 fighter aircraft over the past five years and ordered two submarines and 12 more fighters. Malaysia took delivery of two submarines, six frigates and 26 fighter aircraft. Indonesia imported four frigates and four fighter aircraft and ordered three more.
Thailand and Vietnam have also stepped up arms purchases following their example, said Sipri. Thailand is buying six fighter aircraft and one early-warning aircraft — and Vietnam six submarines, two frigates and eight fighter aircraft.
“While south-east Asian governments … still don’t openly voice concerns over China, they think about it, and they are making a statement with what they are buying,” said Siemon Wezeman, a senior fellow at the arms transfers programme at Sipri. “Fifteen years ago, there were the same conflicting claims in the South China Sea but the countries didn’t have the means to enforce their claims. Now, the moment somebody hits oil there, things might look very dangerous.”
The Chinese navy has recently built a submarine base on Hainan Island in the South China Sea, where it has a territorial dispute with the surrounding littoral states — Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam — over the potentially resource-rich Spratly and Paracel archipelagos.
Singapore’s concern is over the impact of the shift in the balance of power in the region, said Tim Huxley of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore. “The real problem is the huge discrepancy in power between China and the south-east Asian nations.”
Sipri, which conducts independent research on international security, armaments and disarmament, said global arms transfers during the five-year period rose 22 per cent, with Asia and Oceania the biggest recipients with 41 per cent of the total.
Europe followed with 24 per cent, then the Middle East with 17 per cent.
The United States remained the world’s largest exporter of military equipment, accounting for 30 per cent of overseas arms sales during the period. Almost 40 per cent of US deliveries went to Asia and Oceania and a similar proportion to the Middle East.
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