JAKARTA – Southeast Asian nations have agreed to perform their first combined military exercises in the South China Sea, according to Indonesian officials on Thursday (Jun 8), as tensions rise over China’s growing aggressiveness in the region.
“We will hold joint military drills in the North Natuna Sea,” Indonesian military commander Yudo Margono said following a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) defense chiefs in Bali, according to state news agency Antara.
He stated that they will take place in September and will include all ten members of the bloc as well as observer member Timor-Leste.
That would include junta-ruled Myanmar, where the military has deposed a civilian leader and overseen a brutal crackdown on dissent that has resulted in broad US and EU sanctions.
Margono stated that the exercises will be focused on maritime security and rescue rather than war activities.
“It is all about ASEAN centrality,” he explained.
The bloc’s members have previously conducted naval exercises with the US, but never as a group.
The announcement comes after Washington called on Beijing to avoid “provocative” behavior in the disputed waterway following a near-collision with a Philippine vessel and a risky maneuver near an American surveillance aircraft by a Chinese fighter pilot.
Chinese ships have also periodically intruded into the Indonesian-claimed waters of North Natuna, where the drills would take place, triggering Jakarta protests.
Despite conflicting claims from Southeast Asian nations like as Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia, China claims the majority of the South China Sea.
When confronted, Beijing’s ships have patrolled the area, invoking China’s so-called “nine-dash line” – an area it claims but is contested by its neighbors – to support its supposed historic rights to the waters.
Last month, ASEAN leaders met to examine “serious incidents” in the South China Sea, as well as ongoing negotiations for a code of conduct aimed at minimizing the danger of violence in the region.
Source: CNA