S'PORE, CHINA TO DEEPEN MILITARY TIES

Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen rounded up his seven-day trip to China on 14 Nov with a Joint Press Release that laid out how Singapore and China planned to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation through a Four-Point Consensus.

1. Both sides will strengthen the healthy and steady development of their defence relationship based on mutual respect and accommodating each other's security concerns for mutual trust.

2. Both sides will enhance dialogue and mutual understanding through the conduct of regular high-level meetings and strategic consultation.

3. Both sides will promote confidence building and mutual trust by strengthening practical cooperation, such as joint training exercises.

4. Both sides will deepen people-to-people ties and friendship by increasing working-level exchanges and dialogues between both militaries.

Emphasising the significance of the release, Dr Ng said: "It goes beyond the motherhood statements. One, it lays out the principle that we have mutual regard, respect and we try to accommodate each other's security needs for mutual trust. And then two, substantively how we are going to do it through high-level exchanges

"Finally, all of these leading to more exchanges between senior commanders as well as troops."

Dr Ng remarked that his trip was very productive for a few reasons. They included the fact that the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) went to great lengths to facilitate the visit which covered several major Chinese cities, how the meetings had allowed both sides to share their motivations and goodwill, and the substantive outcome of the Joint Press Release.

The meeting between Dr Ng and his counterpart Minister of National Defence General (GEN) Chang Wanquan also reaffirmed both militaries' commitment to strengthening bilateral defence cooperation and delved into the specifics of the high-level exchanges they could have.

"We were very keen on specialised areas such as counter-terrorism and maritime exercises, and also increasing collaborations between our military academies," said Dr Ng. He added that as next year will be the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Singapore and China, he invited GEN Chang to visit Singapore. "He said he would very much like to, so I look forward to the visit."

On the significance of the increase in cooperation with China for Singapore's relations with other partners, Dr Ng explained that multilateralism among defence agencies and militaries "is the recognition that relationships are not mutually exclusive".

He elaborated: "I think our strong partners, the United States, other ASEAN countries recognise this. And I would also say that they will welcome our increased defence ties with China. In fact, they themselves are seeking closer ties with China."

On how Singapore characterises its relations with China in relation to neighbouring countries, Dr Ng emphasised that "our way of defence diplomacy" was "not to over-project our importance, nor demand excessively others' attention". He concluded the interview by observing that our "stronger defence ties is consistent with our overall relationship with China, which has been growing".

On tensions in the South China Sea, Dr Ng said: "The less involved our militaries are the better for all of us. This is not an issue that requires a military solution. It should never require a military solution and in fact, the military should stay as far away as possible from this and allow diplomatic and other aspects of resolution. And I hope that that s the prevailing attitude among all defence ministers and certainly that's Singapore's position."

Besides GEN Chang, Dr Ng also met other Chinese leaders including Vice-President Li Yuanchao and Central Military Commission Vice-Chairman GEN Xu Qiliang during his visit. The visit which began on 8 Nov was part of regular high-level bilateral and defence visits by top leaders of Singapore and China.