ASEAN to hold first joint military exercise in South China Sea

The Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN will hold its first-ever joint military exercise in the South China Sea, Indonesia's chair Indonesia said on Thursday, the latest multilateral security drills at a time of rising tension and uncertainty in the region.

The decision was taken at a meeting of military commanders of the 10 member Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN in Indonesia, which will host the exercise in the North Natuna Sea, the southernmost waters of the South China Sea.

Indonesia's military chief, Admiral Yudo Margono, said the exercise would be in September and would not include any combat operations training. Margono said the aim of the move was to strengthen ASEAN's centrality. The rivalry between the United States and China in the South China Sea has been a test of ASEAN's unity for years. Indonesia's military spokesperson Julius Widjojono said the exercise was linked to the high risk of disaster in Asia, especially Southeast Asia. The South China Sea, the hub for about $3.5 trillion of annual ship-borne trade, has been under constant tension since China presses its claims with a massive deployment of coast guard and fishing boats as far as 1,500 km 932 miles off its coastline.

China claims sovereignty through an expansive nine-dash line based on its historic maps, which an international arbitration court in 2016 ruled had no legal basis.

ASEAN has been pushing for a long-awaited maritime code of conduct with China to be completed, and several of its members have had run-ins with Beijing in recent months.

Vietnam criticized China's use of a research vessel near several gas blocs in its EEZ, while Beijing was accused of sending suspected maritime militia into waters where navies of India and ASEAN countries held an exercise.

The Philippines chided China's coast guard for dangerous manoeuvres and aggressive tactics and plans to hold joint patrols with the United States on the eve of an inaugural trilateral coast guard exercise with Japan this week.

China maintains its coast guard is conducting regular operations in what is China's sovereign territory.