China-Indonesia Naval Drill Near Taiwan Goes Unexplained
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- US Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby met Indonesia's Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin in Jakarta this week as part of a Southeast Asia tour that also visited the Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia.
- China's Global Times reported that warship Honghe will hold a joint navigation exercise with an Indonesian navy ship in mid-August in waters east of Taiwan, framed as communication practice and 'safeguarding regional peace and stability.'
- The same Global Times report placed the friendly drill announcement alongside footage of the Honghe in a 20-hour standoff with a larger foreign warship near the Taiwan Strait earlier this year, when the two ships came within 100 to 200 meters of each other.
- Indonesia-China naval cooperation dates to the 'Sharp Knife' drills, suspended around 2015 after Chinese fishing disputes near Indonesia's Natuna Islands, resumed in 2021, and re-accelerated after President Prabowo Subianto met China's foreign minister in 2024.
- Indonesia also hosts the Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo, led the first ASEAN Solidarity Exercise in the Natuna Sea in 2023, and runs the annual Garuda Shield exercise with the United States — illustrations of its 'free and active' hedging doctrine.
- The authors argue Indonesian officials have not adequately explained why the drill was placed east of Taiwan, and that Jakarta owes the public a plainer account when its choices touch a flashpoint as sensitive as the waters near Taiwan.
Why it matters: For Indonesia, hedging between Washington and Beijing depends on appearing genuinely neutral. Joining a Chinese drill in waters near Taiwan without explanation risks looking tilted toward Beijing — a perception that could complicate US defense ties and undercut Jakarta's own active maritime disputes with China over the Natuna Islands.
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