- China's defence ministry announced on Tuesday that the PLA would conduct joint naval training with Indonesia in waters east of Taiwan.
- The drill is scheduled for mid-August, featuring the Chinese frigate Honghe and Indonesian frigate KRI I Gusti Ngurah Rai, focusing on communications and at-sea replenishment.
- Taiwanese authorities protested the exercise plan, labelling it a 'provocation'.
- The exercise follows intensified enforcement patrols east of Taiwan since June by mainland Chinese government vessels.
- The drill will be the PLA's first with a foreign navy in the area, though planned activities do not appear to involve combat operations.
- Beijing has pursued better defence ties with Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and most populous country.
- The exercise's location transforms limited seamanship drills into strategic signalling because eastern approaches provide Taiwan’s principal maritime depth beyond the heavily monitored Taiwan Strait.
- Taiwan regards the event as exercises in name, expansion in fact, warning that foreign participation could create a false international impression that Beijing already exercises accepted authority over the eastern maritime approaches.
- The Honghe is a Type 054A frigate designed for sustained escort, air defence and anti-submarine missions, while KRI I Gusti Ngurah Rai is a SIGMA 10514-derived guided-missile frigate representing Indonesia’s modern surface-combatant capability at sea.
China and Indonesia are set to conduct their first joint naval drill east of Taiwan in mid-August, a move that raises strategic alarms in the region.258
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will engage in training exercises with Indonesia’s navy, focusing on communications and at-sea replenishment.
The drill will feature the Chinese frigate Honghe and Indonesia’s KRI I Gusti Ngurah Rai, marking the PLA’s inaugural exercise with a foreign navy in these contested waters.9
“The exercise is aimed at enhancing the two navies’ capabilities for joint operations, deepening practical cooperation and contributing to the maintenance of peace and stability in the region,” stated Beijing’s defense ministry.6
However, Taiwanese authorities have condemned the exercise as a “military provocation”, arguing it undermines the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
The naval exercise follows increased Chinese patrols near Taiwan, with a China Coast Guard fleet reported to have come within 32 nautical miles of Hualien, a significant airbase.
“The exercise therefore changes no sovereignty boundary and creates no alliance, but it tests whether low-intensity naval cooperation can generate high-value diplomatic effects,” noted military analysts.
This drill is part of a broader effort by Beijing to strengthen defense ties with Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, following recent joint maritime training exercises.
The first Indonesia–China foreign and defense ministers’ meeting in April 2025 emphasized joint exercises and defense collaboration, laying the groundwork for deeper military engagement.
“The drill will pair the PLA Navy frigate Honghe with Indonesia's KRI I Gusti Ngurah Rai for communications and replenishment exercises, but no combat operations are planned. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council condemned the plan as a 'military provocation' and 'dangerous behaviour that undermines the status quo.'”
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