Singapore’s Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam has met China’s envoy to the city state Cao Zhongming to discuss security cooperation, with the ambassador posting on social media that both men had “in-depth exchanges on bilateral relations”.
Cao added on his Facebook page on Thursday that he and Shanmugam, who is also Singapore’s home affairs minister, had discussed “law enforcement and security cooperation”.
“Taking the 35th anniversary of our diplomatic ties as an opportunity, I look forward to strengthening our practical cooperation in various fields, and making new progress in our all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership,” the ambassador said.
This Week in Asia has contacted Shanmugam’s office for comment.
Their meeting comes after the Chinese embassy took issue with local media linking cyberthreat group UNC3886 to China last month. Shanmugam had earlier named the group and warned it was attacking local critical infrastructure.
UNC3886 has been identified by Google-owned cybersecurity firm Mandiant as a China-linked cyber espionage group, although Beijing’s embassy in Singapore has vehemently rejected the claim.