Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visits Australia to improve defence ties, upgrade trade deal
Singapore’s prime minister visited Australia on Wednesday to upgrade a free-trade agreement and to finalise a deal that will double the capacity of Singaporean military training facilities in the Australian tropics.
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told the Australian Parliament that China was the biggest trading partner of both nations, which were also allies of the United States.
Singapore and Australia are at one in defending the rule of law and rejecting the proposition that might is right
“We both see the United States as a benign force playing a major role in fostering peace and stability in Asia,” Lee said.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said both countries shared a common strategic outlook. He made an apparent veiled criticism of China’s increasingly aggressive territorial claims in the South China Sea and its refusal to abide by international law to resolve competing claims.
“Singapore and Australia are at one in defending the rule of law and rejecting the proposition that might is right,” Turnbull told Parliament.
