China and key US partner Singapore agree to top-level defense hotline
China and Singapore have laid the groundwork for a hotline between the two countries that would establish a high-level communications link between Beijing and a close American partner in Asia at a time when Chinese tensions with Washington are high and dialogue has stalled
SINGAPORE (AP) — China and Singapore laid the groundwork Friday for a hotline between the two countries that would establish a high-level communications link between Beijing and a close American partner in Asia at a time when Chinese tensions with Washington are high and dialogue has stalled.
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, a general in China's People's Liberation Army who was named minister in March, signed a memorandum of understanding with his Singaporean counterpart Ng Eng Hen to work toward establishing a secure telephone link “for high-level communications between our defense leaders,” according to a statement released by Singapore.
“Such high-level open lines of communications are important for strengthening mutual understanding and trust,” the statement said, without giving a timeline for when it would be established.
Li is on his first visit to Singapore as defense minister, and is broadly discussing global and regional security issues with a range of officials. Singapore said both countries' defense establishments “interact regularly through bilateral and multilateral exercises” and that his visit underscores "long-standing, warm and friendly" relations.
