BEIJING - Singapore’s Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen has urged China to continue to be a stabilising force in Asia, especially when geopolitics has become fractious and global problems threaten security.
The two countries will in 2023 step up military exchanges such as study visits and resume army and navy exercises, said Mr Ng while on a two-day visit to Xi’an in Shaanxi province, where he held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe on Friday.
They last met in June in Singapore at the inaugural Singapore-China Defence Ministers’ Dialogue, where they inked agreements on military education for officers and exchanges between defence academies.
While in Singapore, General Wei also spoke at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit, where he warned that China would “fight to the very end” should Taiwan pursue independence.
At the same summit, United States Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had accused Beijing of being “coercive and aggressive” in its territorial claims and its military for launching dangerous intercepts in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.
On Friday, Mr Ng said: “I think we recognise this is a potentially dangerous point in our histories and that the priority is to stabilise the situation and to avoid conflict.”
He said that both Singapore and China “recognise that there are many problems affecting our region and globally, including many security matters or economic issues that can affect security, and that the geopolitics is fractious, and we ought to be improving the situation”.
Mr Ng said China was happy with the meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Bali.
“I think there is an earnest desire to want to improve relations with the United States as well as provide greater regional stability in Asean,” said Mr Ng in a pre-recorded video clip made available to the media.
In a read-out by the Chinese Defence Ministry, General Wei described the security situation in the Asia-Pacific as “stable in general but with worrisome factors”.
He said he hoped the Chinese and Singapore militaries would have closer communication at a high level and upgrade the level of joint exercises and training, and that both countries will work more closely in multilateral security coordination.
Both sides are working on setting up a bilateral defence hotline.
Mr Ng’s visit was at the invitation of the Chinese defence ministry, which had wanted face-to-face meetings with several defence ministers after the Communist Party’s congress was over and Covid-a9 protocols were relaxed.
Besides Mr Ng, General Wei also met Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto on Friday.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, Mr Ng said he was flying into China on a military plane, the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport. “Can only use military flight for safety from Covid-19,” said his post.
