Media

2018/95, 25 October 2018

China has stepped up its defence diplomacy in Southeast Asia by participating in simultaneous naval exercises with the ASEAN states.

From 20 to 29 October, China will hold combined exercises with Malaysia and Thailand in the Straits of Malacca. China and Malaysia have contributed two warships each, while Thailand has sent around 50 military personnel.

2018/94, 25 October 2018

Having built up a considerable level of familiarity and comfort among the participating defense establishments over the past decade, the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) and the ADMM-Plus are increasingly geared towards action-oriented measures to deal with complex security issues in the region, especially counter-terrorism and maritime security. As highlighted in the Joint Statement on Practical Confidence-Building Measures at the 5th ADMM-Plus on 20 October 2018 in Singapore, the defence collaborative efforts are focusing on conducting joint exercises and developing protocols on maritime interactions to reduce collision risks and manage untoward incidents at sea. This has become all the more imperative after the near collision of US and Chinese destroyers in the South China Sea in early October – a grim reminder of the increasingly congested and contested regional maritime domain. The objective is to navigate the growing geopolitical contestation in the region by identifying common ground for constructive and practical collaboration.