Navy to base ships in Singapore
Washington Post: If China is unhappy with the Obama administration’s decision to send a handful of Marines to northern Australia , wait until the U.S. Navy starts basing warships in Singapore, on the edge of the disputed waters of the South China Sea. The United States and Singapore are in the final negotiating stages of an agreement to base some of the U.S. Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ships at the Changi Naval Base. Former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced in June that a deal was near to deploy the ships to Singapore, and a Pentagon spokesman said this week that officials “remain excited about this opportunity.” The initial announcement barely caused a ripple compared with the stir caused by President Obama’s declaration Wednesday that he would permanently station a small number of Marines in Australia. The former involves 250 to 2,500 Marines deployed roughly 2,500 miles from China. The latter is significantly closer — a...