Asia News Network
14 February 2014
- RSIS
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- China’s Naval Drills Signal “Desire to Play Bigger Role” on High Seas
China’s Naval Drills Signal “Desire to Play Bigger Role” on High Seas
China’s navy conducted unannounced military exercises in waters between Indonesia and Australia earlier this month, prompting Australia to scramble an air force surveillance plane to monitor the proceedings.
The Chinese drills, which come on the heels of its patrol of James Shoal off the coast of Sarawak, are seen as the strongest signal yet of China’s desire to play a greater role on the high seas and flex its growing naval capabilities.
The five-day exercise between Java and Christmas Island began on January 29, and involved anti-piracy, search and rescue, damage control and combat drills.
Analysts say that while there is no reason to be alarmed, Beijing was also sending a strong signal that it seeks a greater role in the Indian Ocean, where it has been aggressively courting littoral states and building ports.
“These exercises do attest to China’s expanding interests, and the intention to protect them, in the Indian Ocean,” Ristian Atriandi Supriyanto of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies told The Straits Times.
IDSS / RSIS / Online
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