Indonesia Is Now Conducting Major Naval Exercises In The South China Sea

A Chinese coast guard ship is seen from an Indonesian Navy ship during a patrol in waters of Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone north of Natuna Island in the South China Sea, Jan. 11, 2020. Antara Foto via Reuters

Radio Free Asia: Indonesian Navy Conducts Major Exercise Amid South China Sea Tensions

Indonesia is staging a major naval exercise this week in the Java Sea and the South China Sea, the contested waterway where tensions have risen lately between China and the United States.

The Indonesian Navy’s Western Fleet held an exercise in the Java Sea on Wednesday as part of a series of drills by Southeast Asia’s largest nation that began on July 18 and are scheduled to conclude Sunday, naval officials said. These will include an amphibious warfare exercise on the beach at Singkep, an island in Indonesia’s Riau chain in the South China Sea, they said.

The program includes sea battle simulations and 2,000 personnel, 26 warships, 19 aircraft and 18 marine combat vehicles are taking part in the drills, Naval Fleet Command I spokesman Lt. Col. Fajar Tri Rohadi said.

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WNU Editor: Indonesia feels confident that they will be able to limit China's maritime ambitions .... How Indonesia is Setting Limits for China’s Maritime Expansion in Asia (VOA). I think they will fail. Indonesia's navy is just too small to make a difference .... (Indonesia's Navy, Wikipedia).