Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew made the request amid concern about the delicate relationship between China and Taiwan, the Taipei-based China Times said in a report from Washington.

China has repeatedly threatened to take Taiwan by force should the island declare formal independence. The island split from the mainland at the end of a civil war in 1949.

The paper said Singapore usually had up to 6000 soldiers -- comprising infantry, artillery, tanks and air force units -- being trained in Taiwan under a military cooperation agreement.

It said the evacuation of Singaporean troops would require at least two weeks.

Singaporean diplomats in the United States would not confirm the report, saying only that "countries have their own contingency plans," the paper said.

The London-based Jane's Defense Weekly reported last year that China had offered Singapore facilities on Hainan Island as part of its efforts to sabotage the city-state's long-standing military links with Taiwan.

But Singapore had been reluctant to accept the offer, the first to a foreign country by China, for fear of changing its current arrangement with Taiwan.

Singapore recognizes Beijing but maintains close links with Taiwan, which China regards as part of its territory awaiting reunification.

Taiwan sent air force and naval officers to Singapore during the city-state's early years of independence in 1965.

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