China and Indonesia have confirmed the conclusion of a naval exercise in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone, which Taipei condemned as trying to “create the illusion” in the international community that Beijing has jurisdiction over the waters east of Taiwan.
Chinese media reported that the exercise took place yesterday morning, August 12, in the waters east of Taiwan. The Indonesian navy clarified yesterday afternoon that it was a simple passing exercise, or PASSEX in U.S. naval parlance.
Analysis provided to Domino Theory by geointelligence firm ingeniSPACE shows that the exercise took place sometime between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. inside Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone, or EEZ.
The tracking data for the KRI I Gusti Ngurah Rai, the Indonesian frigate involved, show that after it entered Taiwan’s EEZ it turned and made a tight loop, as though it were waiting to align with another ship. It then proceeded south between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. This is likely when some of the photo opportunities took place, with pictures taken by a Chinese naval helicopter, an ingeniSPACE representative told Domino Theory.
However, there is some complication because footage released by China’s state-owned media Global Times appears to show imagery taken at two different times and sea states. ingeniSPACE did not provide data for the frigate Honghe, which was the sole Chinese vessel involved in the exercise.
The Taiwanese military releases daily updates about Chinese movements around the island. The map for August 12 shows that a Chinese helicopter was flying in the areas where the passing exercise took place.
After changing its course once more, the Indonesia frigate passed close to, but did not enter, Taiwan’s contiguous zone, the band of water that serves as a sort of buffer outside of a state’s territorial sea.
The timing of the exercise means that when Wu Tien-jen (吳天任), Taiwan’s assistant deputy chief of the general staff for intelligence, addressed Taiwanese legislators at 10:39 a.m. and informed them about the location of the Indonesian frigate, the exercise was already over.
A statement published yesterday by Taiwan’s foreign ministry said that “only the Beijing authorities would engage in such malicious, irresponsible, and unilateral actions that bring instability and threats to the region.” It stated that Taiwan had requested further details from Indonesia.
The Indonesian navy released two separate statements about the exercise yesterday, emphasizing that passing exercises are not intended as combat exercises, but to build communication and good relations between navies.
Analyst Trystanto Sanjaya pointed out that the first statement said that passing exercises were common when passing through “a country’s territory,” whereas the second statement said passing through “a territory.” He suggested Indonesia was trying to “water down the assumption they are doing a PASSEX inside Chinese waters.”
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