China has lodged a formal statement with Singapore after Hong Kong SAR customs seized nine Singaporean armored troop carriers headed back to Singapore from Taiwan island.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Monday that Beijing opposes any military cooperation between Taiwan region and any countries that have diplomatic ties with Beijing.

“China has already asked Singapore to strictly abide by the law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and to cooperate with the Hong Kong government in handling the follow-up work,” Geng said.

“The Chinese government always resolutely opposes countries that have diplomatic relations with China and at the same time engage in official exchanges with the Taiwan region, including military cooperation. We demand that the Singaporean government earnestly abide by the One-China principle.”