Lieutenant General Jing Jianfeng (left), the PLA’s deputy chief of Joint Staff, and Chan Heng Kee (right), Singapore’s permanent secretary for defence, during the MOU signing ceremony, watched on by General Li Shangfu and Ng Eng Hen. Photo: Bloomberg © Provided by South China Morning Post  

The Hill: China, US ally Singapore agree to establish defense hotline  

China and Singapore, a U.S. ally, agreed Thursday to establish a defense hotline to allow for high-level communications. 

Singapore said in a statement that its defense minister, Ng Eng Hen, and Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a telephone link “for high-level communications between our defense leaders.” 

“Such high-level open lines of communications are important for strengthening mutual understanding and trust,” the statement reads. It did not specify a timeline for setting up the hotline.  

Read more ….  

WNU Editor: Both Singapore and China are celebrating this agreement to establish a defense hotline. 

Quite a contrast to the current lack of communications between the U.S. and China …. US defense secretary says ongoing lack of communication with China could lead to incident that could ‘spiral out of control’ (CNN). 

China And Singapore Agree To Establish A Top-Level Defense Hotline 

China and key US partner Singapore agree to top-level defense hotline — AP
 

China, Singapore agree to work on secure phone link for ‘high-level’ military communications — SCMP
 

Singapore and China to establish secure defense telephone link — UPI