China, Singapore vow to boost military exchanges in latest sign of improved relations

China and Singapore have pledged to step up military exchanges, including joint anti-terrorism and naval drills, in the latest sign of improved ties between the two countries.

Rear Admiral Jiang Guoping, an assistant to the People’s Liberation Army’s chief of the Joint Staff Department, said on Monday that China was willing to further strengthen cooperation with Singapore on areas such as joint anti-terrorism and naval exercises, and personnel training, according to a statement on the defence ministry website.

Jiang said the two countries’ military ties had “developed smoothly” in recent years, adding that China looked forward to taking relations to “a new level”. China also supported Singapore in its role as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next year, he said.

Jiang’s remarks were made in Singapore as he co-hosted the sixth dialogue on defence policy being held between the defence ministries of the two countries, along with Singapore’s Permanent Secretary for Defence Chan Yeng Kit.

Chan was quoted in the statement as saying that Singapore looked forward to high-level exchanges and joint exercises with the Chinese military to improve defence cooperation between the two countries.