China, Indonesia hold joint naval exercises near Jakarta
- Drills will ‘help improve coordination between the warships, deepen professional communication, enhance mutual trust and cooperation’, PLA commander says
- Military cooperation comes after China last week sent three ships to help in the search for the Indonesian submarine that sank in April
The drills, which took place on Saturday morning, were part of the PLA Navy’s annual training programme, the defence ministry said.
China’s Liuzhou and Suqian guided-missile frigates joined Indonesia’s KRI Usman Harun frigate and KRI Halasan missile craft in the exercises, which included communication drills, search and rescue operations and formation manoeuvres, it said.
Mei Guoqiang, who heads the PLA Navy Southern Command’s offshore training formation team, told PLA Daily that the exercises would “help improve coordination between the warships, deepen professional communication, enhance mutual trust and cooperation and jointly demonstrate practical actions to safeguard regional peace and stability”.
It was the first time China had joined an international submarine recovery mission. Observers said the operation would provide the PLA with valuable experience, though China’s involvement was greeted with some suspicion in Indonesia and the West regarding its true intentions.
While military officials from China and Indonesia have called for closer cooperation, the two countries have clashed over fishing rights near the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea. Although Jakarta is not involved in any territorial disputes in the waterway, it considers the waters off the Natunas to be part its exclusive economic zone, though Beijing claims it has historical rights to fish there.
The PLA Navy began its annual training programme in April. The defence ministry said last week that the country’s first domestically developed aircraft carrier, the Shandong, and its support group had begun an exercise in the South China Sea, soon after the Liaoning carrier group completed its latest manoeuvres in the waters.
