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Military exercises conducted between the armed forces of Singapore and China were in accordance with a defence agreement and the nation's approach to defence diplomacy, Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen said in a written reply in Parliament on May 8.

He was responding to a question posed by PAP Member of Parliament Desmond Choo about the defence relations between Singapore and China, as well as the Joint Military Exercise held between the navies of both countries from Apr. 28 to May 1.

Choo asked about the significance of regional security in view of the Singapore-China joint military exercise, as well as whether there were plans to further deepen bilateral military ties.

Agreement on defence exchanges

In response, Ng stated that the military exercises between the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were in accordance with the enhanced Agreement on Defence Exchanges and Security Cooperation (ADESC).

The agreement was signed between Ng and then-Chinese State Councillor and Minister of National Defence General Wei Fenghe in 2019.

It served to formalise ongoing defence cooperation between two countries and establish a framework for developing the bilateral defence partnership.

Ng remarked that such defence agreements, which Singapore has with many other countries, reflected the country's defence diplomacy, which is to build a network of good defence ties.

Joint naval exercise

Ng noted that the recently concluded naval exercise, known as Exercise Maritime Cooperation, is one of two bilateral exercises that the SAF conducts with the Chinese army.

The exercise was launched in 2015 and is in its second edition this year.

Ng added that another exercise between both countries' armed forces, Exercise Cooperation, is also scheduled to take place later in 2023.

The exercises this year will mark a resumption following a pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of the enhanced ADESC, Ng said that defence establishments and militaries of both countries also agreed to engage in regular dialogues, academic exchanges and cross-attendance in each other’s multilateral conferences.

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Top image via Facebook/Republic of Singapore Navy