China and Indonesia will hold their first joint naval exercise in waters east of Taiwan this month, China’s Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday, marking a modest but symbolically significant expansion of bilateral defence cooperation in the Western Pacific. The ministry said a single Chinese warship, the Type 054A guided-missile frigate Honghe, will conduct a bilateral navigation exercise with one Indonesian navy vessel in mid-August, focused on communication drills and at-sea replenishment, according to Reuters. Neither Taiwan’s defense ministry nor Indonesia’s navy immediately responded to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The exercise follows China’s launch of regular coast guard patrols off Taiwan’s east coast in June, part of Beijing’s broader effort to expand its presence beyond the Taiwan Strait, according to Reuters. Holding a bilateral exercise in the same waters with a Southeast Asian partner underscores China’s growing operational confidence in the Western Pacific, even though neither Beijing nor Jakarta has linked the drill to Taiwan.
For Jakarta, the exercise reflects its long-standing “free and active” foreign policy of engaging all major powers without formal alignment. Indonesia’s largest multinational military exercise remains the Super Garuda Shield, which brought together more than 6,000 troops from 13 countries in 2025, including the United States, Australia and Japan. At the same time, more than 300,000 Indonesian citizens live and work in Taiwan, giving Jakarta an additional incentive to avoid actions that could be interpreted as taking sides in cross-strait tensions.
China rejects Taiwan’s sovereignty claims and conducts near-daily military operations around the island, while Taiwan maintains that only its people can determine the island’s future. Neither Beijing nor Jakarta has said the exercise is directed at Taiwan. Even so, its location reflects China’s steady expansion of naval activity east of the island, an area expected to play a critical role in any future Taiwan contingency.
