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JAKARTA/TAIPEI: Indonesia’s navy said on Wednesday that joint exercises which China said took place east of Taiwan were routine and not related to “war fighting,” after Taipei expressed alarm and called them dangerous.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, and in June began coast guard patrols off the island’s east coast, causing anger in Taipei and concern in Washington and some other Western capitals.
The drill, which China described as a “navigation exercise,” was the first time the country has carried out such an operation with a foreign military in those waters.
Taipei calls drill ‘military provocation’
China’s military said Chinese and Indonesian navy vessels concluded the drill in the waters east of Taiwan on Wednesday morning.
The exercise included maritime communication, formation maneuvering and replenishment at sea, and demonstrated the two sides’ willingness to cooperate pragmatically and jointly safeguard regional peace, the Chinese military added.
The Indonesian navy said on Wednesday that its ship, the I Gusti Ngurah Rai, would conduct “passing exercises” with countries including China, Japan and the US navy’s Seventh Fleet while on its way back from a visit to Russia which were not related to “war fighting.”
These were a “universal naval tradition conducted when transiting through another country’s maritime area,” Indonesian navy spokesperson Tunggul told Reuters, without directly mentioning China.
China’s announcement came as US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby met with Indonesian Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin at his Jakarta office on Tuesday.
“The United States urges China to cease its continuous military pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan,” a spokesperson for the US State Department said when asked to comment on Indonesia’s participation in the exercise.
“We call on other countries to encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues instead of amplifying Beijing’s destabilising narratives.”
Late on Tuesday, Taiwan’s China-policy-making Mainland Affairs Council said the drill was a “military provocation” and Beijing should “immediately stop this dangerous behavior.”
“This is, in reality, political manipulation, ‘Exercises in name, expansion in fact’, aimed at creating a false impression before the international community that the Chinese communists have jurisdiction over waters east of Taiwan,” it added.
A senior Taiwanese security official told Reuters that China was characterizing a normal “passex” interaction as some kind of joint operation with military significance.
“In fact, navies from various countries do this routinely, and Taiwan is no exception,” added the official, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter.
No ‘direct’ military impact on Taiwan
Taking lawmaker questions at parliament in Taipei on Wednesday, Wu Tien-jen, assistant deputy chief of the general staff for intelligence, said the Indonesian warship was on its way back home via Japan and not coming specifically to take part in the drill.
The ship was some 70 to 80 nautical miles off Taiwan’s east coast, in the Pacific, he added.
“Militarily this does not have a direct impact on Taiwan,” he said. “It has a geopolitical significance.”
China’s state-backed newspaper the Global Times cited military expert Zhang Junshe as saying the move shows the country’s sovereign rights over the waters east of Taiwan.
“Inviting foreign vessels to conduct training in waters under China’s jurisdiction is entirely normal and reasonable,” Zhang added.
Taiwan holding annual war games
Taiwan is in the midst of its annual Han Kuang war games, where it simulates how to beat back an attempted Chinese attack.
China recognizes no sovereignty claims by Taiwan’s government and its military operates around the island on an almost daily basis.
Like most countries, Indonesia has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but the island is home to more than 300,000 Indonesian migrant workers.
Taiwan’s government says only the Taiwanese people can decide their future, and it has repeatedly denounced Chinese military pressure.
