China-Indonesia Naval Drill East of Taiwan Angers Taipei
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- China and Indonesia held a joint naval drill in waters east of Taiwan, with Chinese state media releasing footage of the exercise on or around August 13, 2026.
- Taipei reacted with anger, voicing concern that Beijing is using the joint drill to normalise its military presence around Taiwan.
- Taipei also fears the drill signals an effort by Beijing to assert control over vital shipping lanes in waters east of the island.
Why it matters: The drill's location east of Taiwan places Chinese-Indonesian naval activity in a strategic corridor next to the island, giving Taipei's fears of military normalisation concrete grounding: Taiwan reads the exercise not as routine bilateral cooperation but as a step in Beijing's effort to make a military presence near the island and its key sea lanes an accepted fact.
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