BEIJING: Singapore and China have agreed to expand and deepen military ties after an hour-long meeting between Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and his Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan in Beijing on Friday (Nov 14).
Joint training exercises between the two armed forces will be expanded in scope and frequency. Both countries will also engage in areas such as counter-terrorism cooperation.
Singapore and China agreed on four key points in the meeting. They agreed that mutual respect and trust would lead to a strengthening of their defence relationship.
In addition, by conducting regular high-level meetings, both sides would enhance dialogue and mutual understanding. Finally, joint training exercises and regular dialogues would benefit both sides by deepening people-to-people ties and friendship between the two countries.
Dr Ng said: “First of all, it is not usual for them to have joint press releases, so they must have found it sufficiently comfortable in the relationship to have that. Two, to agree substantively on the four-point consensus is again a reflection of the confidence and goodwill the both sides have for each other.”
As part of efforts to enhance the relationship, Singapore and China will increase the scope and frequency of joint training exercises. Both sides will also give each other support in regional security affairs.
This is in the hope that the defence relationship between China and Singapore will continue to grow to promote regional peace and stability.
Singapore 