The Sept 18-25 exercise will now be moved out of the strategic waterway to the South Natuna Sea in Indonesian waters, said Indonesian military spokesperson Julius Widjojono.
Indonesia has changed where it will host Asean's first-ever joint military exercise to a location away from the South China Sea where several countries including China have overlapping territorial claims, its military said on Thursday .
But the Sept 18-25 exercise will now be moved out of the strategic waterway altogether to the South Natuna Sea in Indonesian waters, said military spokesperson Julius Widjojono. Asean's unity has for years been tested by a rivalry between the United States and China that is being played out in the South China Sea, a conduit for about US$3.5 trillion of annual ship-borne trade. Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia have competing claims with Beijing, which asserts sovereignty over vast stretches of ocean that include parts of Indonesia's exclusive economic zone.
Asean has been pushing to complete a long-awaited maritime code of conduct with China, and several of its members have had run-ins with Beijing in recent months.
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