Singapore’s Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen and the Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense General (GEN) Wei Fenghe co-chaired the ASEAN-China Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting today, on the sidelines of the 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and the 5th ADMM-Plus.

During the meeting, the ASEAN Defence Ministers welcomed the new Chinese Defence Minister and looked forward to building on the strong defence cooperation between ASEAN and China. The Ministers commended the successful conduct of the ASEAN-China Maritime Table-Top Exercise in Singapore in August 2018. They noted that the navies of ASEAN Member States and China were currently en route for the ASEAN-China Maritime Field Training Exercise in Zhanjiang from 22 to 28 October 2018.

Looking to the next bound of cooperation, GEN Wei proposed three new areas to deepen China’s defence engagement of ASEAN, namely establishing an ASEAN-China direct communications hotline, think-tank exchanges and a young leaders’ exchange programme. The ASEAN Defence Ministers supported these proposals, which would help forge mutual trust, confidence, and friendships between the militaries and defence establishments of ASEAN Member States and China.

Both GEN Wei and Dr Ng highlighted that ASEAN-China defence cooperation was growing from strength to strength, keeping pace with China’s strong cooperation with ASEAN and other Plus partners through the ADMM-Plus. GEN Wei said, “We are committed to the firm choice to build a closer ASEAN-China community with a shared future. The world is developing rapidly and undergoing profound changes and adjustments. China and ASEAN are important forces in maintaining peace, promoting development and deepening cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.” GEN Wei also expressed appreciation for Singapore’s role as ADMM Chair and ASEAN-China Country Coordinator from August 2015 to August 2018 in promoting ASEAN-China defence cooperation, which further underscored the strong bilateral cooperation and warm ties between China and Singapore.

GEN Wei, who is on his first official visit to Singapore, will join the ASEAN Defence Ministers as well as his other Plus counterparts for the 5th ADMM-Plus tomorrow.