Cambodia, however, has denied reports of a joint exercise in the South China Sea.
Southeast Asian broadcasters were quick to trumpet the first-ever Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) military exercise to be held in the South China Sea later this year. According to Indonesia’s military chief, Adm. Yudo Margono, the drills will not include combat training but were aimed at “ASEAN centrality.”
It’s quite the big deal, and with Indonesia as this year’s chair of ASEAN, the announcement was quickly seen as a rare show of unity on the southern edge of the South China Sea, where Beijing has staked another claim in international waters.
“In the near future, we will hold joint military drills in the North Natuna Sea, to be called the ASEAN Solidity Exercise (ENatuna) or Asec01N,” Margono told the state-run Antara news agency, after the ASEAN Chief of Defense Forces Meeting in Bali.
Margono went on to say the exercise had been agreed to by 11 military chiefs of ASEAN – including Timor-Leste – and scheduled for September this year.
The North Natuna Sea was also a choice area of operations. About a decade ago Indonesian generals were deeply upset when their Chinese counterparts confirmed Beijing’s “nine-dash line” claim did, in fact, travel south of Natuna island and deep inside Indonesia’s sovereign waters.
Source : The Diplomat
