Indonesia hosts joint naval exercises with US and China amidst regional tension.

Indonesia has launched a multilateral naval exercise with 36 countries, including the US, UK, China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea, aimed at strengthening relationships between the navies. The exercise comes amid simmering tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, as China and the US ramp up military diplomacy in the region, staging more frequent war games with allies and partners around Taiwan, and in the busy waterways of the South China Sea and the western Pacific.