 While the liberation of the Brunei area had been authorised by the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff , it was not supported by the British Chiefs of Staff Committee . The British leadership did not want the BPF to be diverted from the main theatre of operations off Japan and preferred to establish a base for the fleet in the Philippines . In response to a suggestion from the Joint Chiefs of Staff that Brunei Bay could support future operations in south @-@ east Asia , the Chiefs of Staff Committee judged that it would take too long to establish facilities there , especially as Singapore might have been recaptured by the time they were complete . 
