my country's defense relations with China and the United States continue to develop steadily, and regular high-level exchanges are maintained. my country plans to strengthen its interaction with China and looks forward to further deepening defense cooperation with the administration led by President Trump.

“In terms of defending Singapore, although we must be self-reliant, we should also expand and strengthen our network of cooperation with friends and partners when interests are in line with each other,” said Dr. Huang Yonghong, Defence Minister.

The Congressional Appropriations Committee debated the Department of Defense expenditure budget on Monday (March 3). In addition to how to build a strong Singapore armed force, Huang Yonghong also spent a lot of time on his speech outlining our country's cooperation with my country and the United States and neighboring countries. He stressed that we should work with our partners to address common security challenges through strengthening cooperative relations.

Last year, Huang Yonghong met with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun twice. Once, when Dong Jun went to attend the Shangri-La dialogue in mid-year, the two co-chaired the third Singapore-China Defense Minister Dialogue; the other time was when Huang Yonghong went to Beijing to attend the Xiangshan Forum in September.

During that trip to Beijing, Huang Yonghong also met with Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, and visited the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army to communicate with senior PLA officers and provincial officials.

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[Parliament]Singapore's Armed Forces Strengthen UAV Combat Power to Improve Defense and Operational Capabilities

Regarding the opportunity to contact the senior Chinese military leaders, Huang Yonghong said: “If you know the organizational structure of the People's Liberation Army of China… My delegation and I realize that it is rare to have the opportunity to communicate with Vice Chairman Zhang and the senior commander of the People's Liberation Army National Defense University. We express our gratitude for this. When we met, we affirmed that the two countries maintained good military interaction through various exercises and high-level meetings, and planned to further strengthen this interaction.”

As for the United States, he said that although Singapore is not a treaty ally of the United States, it is obvious that the military cooperation and mutually beneficial relations between the two countries have been deepening over the years. Singapore thanks the United States for allowing our pilots to go to the local area for years. Many high-end combat platforms owned by our country, such as the F-16 fighter jet and the upcoming F-35 fighter jet, are also produced by American companies.

“Singapore's investment in defense is very considerable, and the United States affirms this.”