Taiwan has condemned planned Chinese navy drills involving an Indonesian warship off its east coast, accusing Beijing of attempting to create a false impression internationally that it exercises jurisdiction over waters east of the island.
China’s defence ministry said on Tuesday that the drill, scheduled for mid-August at an unspecified location east of Taiwan, would be a “navigation exercise” involving an Indonesian navy ship. Such an exercise would be highly unusual because China does not generally conduct military exercises with foreign forces near Taiwan.
The announcement has drawn concern in Taipei as China continues military and law-enforcement activity around the island. China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, while Taiwan’s government maintains that only the Taiwanese people can decide the island’s future. China’s military operates around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, and Beijing has also conducted what it calls “routine law-enforcement patrols” to the east of the island.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council described the planned drill as a “military provocation” and called on Beijing to “immediately stop this dangerous behaviour that undermines the status quo”. It said the latest move followed a series of Chinese actions east of Taiwan and accused Beijing of seeking to use military exercises with “relevant countries” to reinforce its position in the area.
“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,” the council said.
Taiwanese officials, however, said the Indonesian vessel’s presence in the area did not necessarily mean it had travelled there specifically to participate in the Chinese exercise. Wu Tien-jen, assistant deputy chief of the general staff for intelligence, told lawmakers in Taipei on Wednesday that the Indonesian warship was returning from Japan rather than travelling specifically to conduct drills with the Chinese navy.
The vessel was about 70 to 80 nautical miles from Taiwan in the Pacific, Wu said. He assessed that the exercise did not pose a direct military impact on Taiwan, but said it carried geopolitical significance. Taiwan’s foreign ministry separately said it had asked Indonesia for a “clarification” regarding its participation.
The Indonesian navy and defence ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
The planned exercise comes as Taiwan conducts its annual Han Kuang war games, which simulate the island’s response to an attempted Chinese attack. The timing also coincides with a meeting in Jakarta between U.S. Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby and Indonesian Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin on Tuesday.
Sjafrie told Colby that Indonesia’s expanding defence cooperation with the United States was not intended to establish a U.S. military base in the country, according to his office.
Indonesia, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The island is nevertheless home to more than 300,000 Indonesian migrant workers, giving the relationship a significant practical dimension despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
For Taiwan, the proposed exercise adds another layer to an increasingly sensitive security environment around its eastern waters. While Taiwanese officials say the Indonesian warship’s movement has no direct military impact, they have made clear that Beijing’s effort to conduct a naval exercise with a foreign military in the area carries broader geopolitical implications.
