SINGAPORE — Singapore and China are exploring ways to boost military ties, which could include more regular and larger joint training exercises between the SIngapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, who is on an official visit to China, said during a speech today (Nov 13) at the PLA National Defence University in Beijing that he hoped to see the defence relationship between Singapore and China grow in tandem with the continued cooperation between each new generation of leaders in China and Singapore.

“To achieve stronger military ties, (Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan) and I will discuss new initiatives to enhance dialogue and mutual understanding through regular high-level exchanges,” said Dr Ng, who delivered part of his speech in Mandarin. “Singapore would also like to propose more regular and larger joint training exercises to promote confidence building and mutual trust between the PLA and SAF.”

Dr Ng is set to meet General Chang tomorrow. His speech today comes after he witnessed the wrap-up of a joint military exercise between the SAF and PLA in Nanjing on Sunday, which saw 70 personnel each from the SAF and the PLA train together for nine days.

Exercise COOPERATION was the third between the SAF and the PLA. The previous two iterations focused on non-conventional counter-terrorism scenarios, and it has since evolved to include conventional infantry scenarios.

In his speech, Dr Ng said China, by virtue of its strategic global weight, has a crucial role to play in maintaining peace and stability in the region and globally. “Asia’s prosperity is intrinsically intertwined with China’s and the rest of the world. It is my hope that China will continue to participate and contribute actively to the region, taking a leadership role to create conditions of lasting peace and stability,” he said.

Referring to the tensions in the region, Dr Ng noted there have been several “near-miss incidents”. “Tensions in the South China Sea have also escalated periodically with the series of actions and reactions taken by various parties from time to time,” he said. “Such developments are all the more worrying as rapid economic growth in Asia has also led to a rise in defence spending and capability development.”

The meetings between US, China and Japan leaders earlier this week, in particular, the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a “reassuring, bold and necessary act”, said Dr Ng, referring to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meeting.

“The meeting of both these leaders is an important first step to improve relations between China and Japan. All countries hope that this will lead

on to further concrete measures that will provide assurance of regional stability in Northeast Asia,” he said.