But China also benefits from the optics,Blaxland said. “While they’re doubling down on giving Australia the cold shoulder,it’s kind of handy as a counterpoint to be reaching out this hand of friendship to Indonesia.”
Australia’s own defence relationship with Indonesia,its near neighbour the largest country among the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc,is a top priority for the Morrison government in its stated goal of pursuing regional security in the Indo-Pacific.
Shards of the sunken Indonesian submarine the Naggala,which China has offered to salvage for free.Credit:Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In an interview with official defence website thePLA Daily,Mei Guoqiang,the head of the southern command of the Chinese navy,said the joint exercises aimed to “deepen professional communication,enhance mutual trust and cooperation and jointly demonstration practical actions to safeguard regional peace and stability”.
The passing exercises,as they were called,with China’s Liuzhou-573 and Suqian-504 ships,reflected the strength in relations and professionalism between the two navies,according to Rear Admiral Abdul Rasyid,commander of Indonesia’s Fleet 1.
Michael Shoebridge,the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s defence program director,said the drills would have been planned well before China’s offer to salvage Indonesia’s submarine.
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“It’s not that long ago that Australia was talking up its expanding exercise relationship with the PLA,” Shoebridge said.
“There is no doubt the Chinese military wants to build a closer relationship with the Indonesian military but there are some profound difficulties for them doing that while the Chinese state makes claims that cut across Indonesian jurisdiction and sovereignty.”
Blake Herzinger,a Singapore-based non-resident fellow at the Pacific Forum policy institute,described China’s latest maritime activity in the region as “clever opportunism”.
He said it demonstrated that Jakarta was obliged to cooperate with China,its second biggest foreign investor and the major supplier of COVID-19 vaccines to Indonesia.
“The other tricky thing with the Indonesian government and the TNI[Indonesia’s armed forces] is they’re not always singing from the same sheet of music,” he said.