SINGAPORE — Singapore and China will work towards establishing a secure defence telephone link under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that the two countries signed on Thursday (June 1). 

Under the MOU, the defence establishments in both countries will work towards setting up the secure line for high-level communications between their respective defence leaders, Singapore's Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said in a media statement.

Such high-level open lines of communication are important for strengthening mutual understanding and trust, it added.

The signing was witnessed by Singapore's Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and China's Defence Minister Li Shangfu, who was visiting Singapore for the first time.

General Li is here from Thursday to Sunday and will attend the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defence summit, which is being held from Friday to Sunday.

As part of his visit, General Li co-chaired the second Singapore-China Defence Ministers’ Dialogue (DMD) with Dr Ng on Thursday morning.

Both the DMD and the MOU are initiatives under the enhanced Agreement on Defence Exchanges and Security Cooperation signed in 2019.

GENERAL LI AND OTHER LEADERS TO SPEAK AT SHANGRI-LA DIALOGUE

General Li will also speak at a plenary session of the Shangri-La Dialogue, titled China’s new security initiatives, on Sunday. The event is run by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

This year’s dialogue will be attended by 41 countries, with 48 ministerial-level delegates and more than 35 senior defence officials, including Chief of Defence Forces, as well as prominent academics, said Mindef.

At the Shangri-La Dialogue, participants typically debate the region’s security challenges, engage in bilateral talks, and come up with fresh approaches together at the dialogue, IISS stated on its website.

The keynote address for this year’s conference will be delivered by Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the dialogue’s opening dinner on Friday.

Among the speakers are the United States’ Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov.

Mr Austin is expected to speak at the first plenary session titled United States’ Leadership in the Indo-Pacific, on Saturday.

Mr Reznikov will be among five speakers at a session titled Managing Euro-Atlantic and Asia-Pacific Security, on Saturday.

Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas and President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta will also speak at a plenary session on Sunday on the topic of “New Partnerships for Asia-Pacific Security”. 

Dr Ng will host the ministerial round tables at the dialogue on Saturday and Sunday.

He will speak at the seventh plenary session on Sunday on the topic of “Developing Models for Cooperative Security”. 

Mindef also said that Dr Ng will host the Five Power Defence Arrangements Defence Ministers to breakfast. 

This refers to ministers from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom. 

The ministry added that Dr Ng will conduct meetings with ministers and senior officials from various countries “on the sidelines” of the dialogue. 

President Halimah Yacob will host delegates to a dinner at the Istana on Saturday, Mindef said.