Liang Guanglie meets with Singaporean counterpart

Liang Guanglie, state councilor and minister of national defense of the People's Republic of China (PRC) who was attending the Chinese and ASEAN Defense Ministers' Consultation Meeting in Cambodia, met by request with Ng Eng Hen, minister for defense of the Republic of Singapore, on May 29, 2012 in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia. The two sides exchanged views on issues of common concern such as the relations between the two countries and the two militaries.

Liang Guanglie said that high-ranking officials of the two countries had reciprocal visits frequently, and the two countries carried out remarkably fruitful cooperation in such fields as economy, education and culture and coordinated closely with each other in international and regional affairs. The Chinese side is willing to make joint efforts with the Singaporean side to further strengthen pragmatic cooperation in various fields and promote the bilateral relations to a new high.

Liang Guanglie said that the relations between the Chinese and the Singaporean militaries have shown good momentum of all-round development in recent years as evidenced by fruitful results from bilateral and multilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields. The Chinese side will, as always, support the Singaporean side in playing its unique and constructive role in international and regional affairs, and also hopes that the Singaporean side will support China on issues involving China's vital interests, so as to achieve beneficial bilateral and multilateral interaction between the two militaries.

Ng Eng Hen said that the Singaporean side attaches importance to its cooperation with the Chinese side in the field of defense and speaks positively of the bilateral cooperation in such fields of defense policy exchanges, military training and academy education.

Ng Eng Hen said that the Singaporean side is willing to work together with the Chinese side to constantly promote mutual understanding and mutual trust, strengthen communication and coordination in regional security affairs and further push forward the bilateral relations.