China’s Ministry of National Defense announced on May 31 that the navy will send the destroyer Zhanjiang and the frigate Xuchang to participate in the Multilateral Maritime Exercise Komodo 2023 (MNEK). Both warships are equipped with guided missiles.
Destroyer Zhanjiang
CHINESE MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE
This year’s Komodo exercise will take place from June 4 to 8 in waters off the city of Makassar. Indonesia has held Komodo exercises every two years since 2014. The last exercise was in 2018, when it was interrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. That year, China also deployed two warships.
In December 2022, Indonesia announced that it had invited navies from 47 countries to participate in the exercise in June, including the United States, China, Russia, Canada, South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Vice Admiral Deny Prasetyo, commander of Indonesia's MNEK 2023 task force, said at the time that despite the tense relations between South Korea and North Korea, there had been no problems during previous exercises.
MNEK is a non-wartime exercise that instead prioritizes regional maritime cooperation with the aim of building a solid foundation that is trusted by all parties, according to Antara news agency.
The theme of this year's exercise is "Cooperation to Recover and Emerge Stronger", working together to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, contributing to solving humanitarian issues and responding to potential natural disasters.
In addition to MNEK, China last week announced plans to participate in the Amana Youyi 2023 exercise with several Southeast Asian countries.
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