The United States and China are participating in a multilateral naval exercise hosted by Indonesia, which commenced on Monday amid strained relations between the two major powers over Taiwan.
The Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo is taking place in the Makassar Strait, Indonesia, and will last until Thursday. The United States and China were among the 36 participating countries, which also included Russia, India, and Japan.
Around 15 foreign vessels arrived at Sulawesi Island on Monday as the Komodo exercise began, the Indonesian Navy said. This came as the United States and China ramped up military diplomacy in the region, staging more frequent war games with allies around Taiwan.
According to the command, the USS Chung-Hoon was conducting “a routine south to north Taiwan Strait transit” alongside the Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal when the incident happened.
It stated that a Chinese warship overtook the USS Chung-Hoon on its port side and crossed its bow at a distance of 150 yards, forcing the American vessel to reduce its speed to 10 knots to avoid a collision.
Taiwan Issue
At the Shangri-La Dialogue defense summit in Singapore, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that China’s military had “continued to conduct an alarming number of risky intercepts of U.S. and allied aircraft flying lawfully in international air.”Austin made it clear that the United States does not have any intention of seeking conflict, but that “we will not flinch in the face of bullying or coercion.”
“We’ve all just seen another troubling case of aggressive and unprofessional flying by the PRC [People’s Republic of China]. So we will support our allies and partners as they defend themselves against coercion and bullying,” he said at the summit on June 3.
Austin warned that any armed conflict in the Taiwan Strait could unsettle and disrupt the world.
“I’d like to highlight that conflict is neither imminent nor inevitable,” he said. “Deterrence is strong today—and it’s our job to keep it that way.”
“You know, the whole world has a stake in maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait—the whole world. The security of commercial shipping lanes and global supply chains depends on it. And so does freedom of navigation worldwide.”
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) views Taiwan as a renegade province that must be united with the mainland by any means necessary, even though Taiwan has never been ruled by the CCP and has its own democratic government.
An Indonesian navy ship arrives at a naval base in Banyuwangi on April 22, 2021. (AFP via Getty Images)
will come to Taiwan’s aid if the island is attacked, but its policy on Taiwan remains unchanged.
