China and Indonesia sailed two warships together this week in the Pacific waters east of Taiwan — the first time China has trained with a foreign navy there, and a move Taipei condemned within hours. China’s Ministry of National Defense announced the plan on 11 August, and its military said the two ships completed the drill on the morning of 12 August.
Two Frigates, Three Simple Tasks
China sent the Type 054A guided-missile frigate Honghe. Indonesia sent the frigate KRI I Gusti Ngurah Rai-332. The two ships formed up at sea and practised radio communications, sailed in formation, and refuelled on the move.
Beijing called the activity a “navigation exercise,” though its defence ministry gave no coordinates, dates or route. The Honghe entered service in 2022 under the Eastern Theater Command, and the Type 054A is China’s most numerous frigate class. The tasks themselves were basic. The location was not.
Why These Waters
Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory and, by extension, treats the sea east of the island as its own jurisdiction — a claim Taipei rejects outright.
China has pressed the point hard since early summer. In June its coast guard began patrols off Taiwan’s east coast, patrols that angered Taipei and drew concern in Washington and several Western capitals. Beijing said the first patrol answered an announcement by Japan and the Philippines, which had agreed to open formal talks on their maritime boundaries; Beijing argued those talks touched Chinese waters near Taiwan. Chinese ships have since questioned foreign merchant vessels in the area, with Beijing describing the work as lawful enforcement in its own waters.
This week’s drill fits that pattern. The state-backed Global Times quoted Chinese military expert Zhang Junshe as saying the exercise showed China’s sovereign rights east of Taiwan, and that inviting foreign vessels to train in waters under Chinese jurisdiction was “entirely normal and reasonable.”
The timing sharpened the signal. Taiwan was running Han Kuang 42, its annual war games, from 5 to 14 August — drills that rehearse how the island would repel a Chinese attack.
Taipei’s Response
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council reacted late on 11 August, calling the drill a military provocation and urging Beijing to stop what it described as dangerous behaviour. The exercise amounted to “political manipulation,” the council said, aimed at convincing the world that China holds jurisdiction east of Taiwan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs went further the next day, contacting Indonesia directly to ask for clarification. Beijing had “unilaterally claimed” Indonesian participation, the ministry said, condemning what it called arbitrary and irresponsible conduct by China.
Taiwan’s military took a cooler line. Major General Wu Tien-jen, assistant deputy chief of the general staff for intelligence, told lawmakers on 12 August that the Indonesian frigate was sailing home via Japan and had not come specifically for the drill, staying 70 to 80 nautical miles off Taiwan’s east coast. “Militarily this does not have a direct impact on Taiwan,” Wu said, describing the significance as geopolitical rather than military. A senior Taiwanese security official, speaking anonymously to Reuters, made a similar point — that China had dressed up a routine encounter as a joint operation.
Jakarta’s Explanation
Indonesia framed the episode as good manners at sea. First Admiral Tunggul, who heads the Indonesian Navy Information Service, said the ship had conducted a passing exercise, following standard international practice when warships transit near foreign waters. Such exercises are “not war-fighting in nature,” Tunggul said, but goodwill engagements common to navies worldwide.
The frigate was returning home from Vladivostok, where it had taken part in Exercise Orruda 2026 with the Russian navy, and planned similar brief exercises with other countries along its route home. Tunggul added that Indonesia’s “free and active” foreign policy permits cooperation with any state. Notably, the Indonesian statement named neither China nor Taiwan, and gave no time or place.
The Wider Picture
Jakarta is balancing carefully. China’s announcement landed on a telling day: Elbridge Colby, the US under secretary of war for policy, was in Jakarta and met Indonesian Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin that same afternoon, during which Sjafrie ruled out American bases in Indonesia.
Ties with Taiwan complicate matters further. The two sides have no formal diplomatic relations, yet bilateral trade reached $11.27 billion in 2025, and more than 335,000 Indonesian migrant workers were living in Taiwan at the end of June 2026.
A PLA Navy task force had also visited Surabaya from 2 to 6 August.
