Singapore says it's trying to free shipment of troop carriers held in Hong Kong

HONG KONG/TAIPEI (Reuters) - Singapore is trying to free a shipment of armored troop carriers detained in Hong Kong as they were being shipped home from overseas, Singapore's defense ministry said on Thursday, and Hong Kong authorities said the vessel was from Taiwan. Singapore authorities were "providing relevant assistance to the Hong Kong Customs and expect the shipment to return to Singapore, expeditiously", the ministry said in a statement. Taiwanese media said Singapore and Taiwan were in joint drills and a returning military shipment should not have been stopped in Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997.