2023-09-24 15:17:10
With our South Asia correspondent, Juliette Pietraszewski
Ten member countries of the bloc, as well as East Timor, a nation seeking to integrate ASEAN, participated in these military maneuvers. Previously, one of the main countries participating in the exercises was the United States.
According to ASEAN, “these maritime security exercises were intended to evaluate disaster response and rescue operations, but not combat operations.”
On this occasion, which will be remembered as the first in which exclusively the member states participated, as well as those that might be included in the group, Burma participated in a symbolic way, since until then it was only an observer. Although this country has been controlled by a military junta since 2021, an official representative was present. ASEAN has intervened on different occasions to resolve its political crisis.
New exercise field
Due to tensions with China, the bloc did not carry out these exercises in the planned location, in Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone, as Beijing has claimed these waters as part of its territory. To secure these historical claims, China has on different occasions sent patrols throughout this region surrounding the Natuna archipelago.
For its part, the Philippines has condemned this type of actions by the Chinese government, since on one occasion the patrols pursued Philippine troops in another place that China claims as its own: the Spratly Islands, an archipelago in the South China Sea.
On the other hand, Cambodia has respected its loyalty to China, and should have condemned the carrying out of these disputed exercises by different countries.
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