Singapore, China ink pact to set up secure telephone line between defence chiefs

SINGAPORE — Singapore and China will work towards establishing a secure defence telephone link under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) the two countries inked 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 release.

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

The MOU signing was witnessed by Singapore’s Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and China’s Defence Minister Li Shangfu, who is 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, Gen 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.

GEN LI TO SPEAK AT SHANGRI-LA DIALOGUE
Gen Li will also speak at a plenary session of the Shangri-La Dialogue, titled China’s new security initiatives, on Sunday. The dialogue is run by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

At the Shangri-La Dialogue, those attending typically debate the region’s security challenges, engage in bilateral talks, and come up with fresh approaches together at the dialogue, said the IISS 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 at the dialogue are the United States’ Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov.

Mr Austin is expected speak at the first plenary session, titled United States’ leadership in the Indo-Pacific, on Saturday, while Mr Reznikov will be among five speakers at a session, titled Managing Euro-Atlantic and Asia-Pacific security, on Saturday.