It is generally believed that Singapore intends to station troops overseas because of its small territory. If Singapore is captured by foreign enemies, Singapore's foreign troops can use the allied fleet and landing forces to recapture Singapore.
1974 12 when lee Kuan yew, then prime minister of Singapore, visited Taiwan Province for the second time, he proposed that Singapore wanted to train its armed forces in Taiwan Province province because of limited space. At that time, Jiang Jingguo, the leader of Taiwan Province Province, "expressed sympathy" for the situation in Singapore and readily agreed.
1In April, 1975, Lee Kuan Yew and Jiang Jingguo signed a top-secret military exchange and cooperation plan, namely, the "Starlight Plan", which actually allowed the Singaporean armed forces to go to Taiwan Province Province for military training under the code name of "Starlight Exercise".
According to this plan, a "Starlight Force" composed of infantry, artillery, armored force and assault company has been set up in Singapore, and it regularly takes turns to conduct training in the "Joint Training Base of the Three Armies", Douliu Artillery Base and Hukou Armored Force Base in Pingtung, Taiwan Province Province. The Taiwan authorities only accept materials consumed by the new army and do not accept any other money.
The training camp includes Hsinchu Hukou Armored Forces Base, Pingtung Hengchun Joint Training Base and Yunlin Douliu Artillery Base. Among them, the joint training base of the three armed forces is close to Kenting, and many people often meet Singaporean soldiers with shaved heads on Kenting Street. The spending power of Singaporean soldiers is amazing, which is quite popular with local stores. Although the Starlight Force is low-key in Taiwan Province Province, it is no secret. People in towns and villages near the above three training bases can often see right-hand drive military vehicles and sometimes Singaporean warships moored at Kaohsiung Pier.
Initially, the Starlight Project was valid for one year. Since then, the two sides have signed exchange contracts every year through the "Taiwan Province-Singapore Joint Training Conference" held in Taiwan Province to maintain institutionalized military exchanges. Every year in June 5438+065438+ 10, Starlight Force will put forward the training plan for the coming year, and then the force commander will sign the contract on behalf of the military. The contents of the training plan include the number and equipment of troops to be trained in Taiwan Province Province in the coming year, the required bases, etc. The Star Corps participated in the disaster relief of 9.21earthquake and 8.8 typhoon. In 2004, after Chen Tangshan criticized Singapore as a "big nose" country, the number of trainees in the joint training base of the three armed forces dropped sharply from 10,000 per year to thousands.