With the participation of thousands of American and Indonesian soldiers, on Monday, the military exercise “Super Garuda Shield” began on the island of West Sumatra of Indonesia, and in the Riau Islands area spread near Singapore and Malaysia. – Also under Indonesian jurisdiction. By the way, military exercises have been organized every year since 2009, with the participation of Australia and Singapore, among other countries, and this year Japan will join for the first time. According to Washington, the purpose of the exercise is to “strengthen regional cooperation in support of a free and open Asia-Pacific region,” and although official statements say the two-week military operations are not directed against any country, the United States still felt it was important to emphasize However, the exercise, which runs until August 14, will be “much larger in scale and scope” than before.
According to analysts, the background to an unusually large demonstration of power may be the escalation of tensions with China, as well as Beijing’s increasingly assertive actions in the Pacific region.
Although Indonesia’s foreign policy continues to try to remain neutral in the web of conflicting interests of the great powers, according to experts, there are clear signs that Jakarta is increasingly turning towards the United States and the West; prove it According to the portal Asia Times The exercises will also simulate landing by amphibious vehicles on the Natuna Islands, not far from where the Chinese Coast Guard and Chinese research vessels in 2020 violated the exclusive economic zone of the Southeast Asian archipelago. A military source, who asked not to be named, described the exercises to the newspaper as a kind of “real test” that could lead to a permanent expansion of the Garuda shield. Analysts say the multinational Garuda Shield – which includes Canada, the UK, France, South Korea and Papua New Guinea as observers – is bound to anger Beijing and complicate Jakarta’s efforts to strike a balance between the two rival superpowers.
In addition, the current military exercises in a particularly tense situation are further exacerbating the mood in Beijing, where long-unseen tension has erupted between the United States and China over the scheduled visit of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. Although the visit to Taiwan is not included in the official program of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, he arrived in the island nation at the end of his tour.
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan seriously threatens peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and harms China-US relations.
– The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing wrote in its statement on Tuesday. The Chinese Ministry of Defense announced that the army was placed on high alert and threatened to carry out targeted operations against Taiwan due to the visit of the American politician.
Photo: Jiang Jingjing
Meanwhile, the People’s Liberation Army Command of the Eastern Region announced that it will start military exercises with the participation of various forces in north, southwest and northeastern Taiwan Tuesday evening local time. According to the information, during the exercise, in which the Air Force and the Navy participated, sharp shots will be fired in the Taiwan Strait and test-fires with conventional missiles will be conducted east of the island, which China claims as its territory.
Allegedly, Chinese Su-35 bombers also rose into the air upon their arrival. The Chinese military announced that it will conduct a three-day sniper training in the area from Wednesday and ban civilian traffic. Additionally, and in response, the trade in biscuits and other cakes, which may seem like a small thing, is a $660 million trade, has been banned.
The tension is also well understood by the fact that John Kirby, the National Security Council’s strategic communications coordinator, warned at the White House on Monday:
Taiwan should prepare for China’s prolonged military provocations after Pelosi’s visit.
In any case, the island nation is already on air defense alert, and shelters have been assigned to residents across the country. Another cause for concern is that the Russian state news agency TASSZ, citing Chinese sources, wrote that Chinese aircraft carriers named Liaoning and Shandong have already left the ports of Qingdao and Sanya, although it is not yet clear where they are heading.
Cover photo: On August 1, Garuda Shield military exercises began in West Sumatra (Source: Twitter)
