A senior U.S. military source said on Friday that 4,000 soldiers, largely from Indonesia and the United States, will perform a combined military exercise next week to highlight ‘the significance we have on a free and open Indo-Pacific area.’
The biennial ‘Super Garuda Shield’ exercise takes place amid a backdrop of heightened tensions with China over the latter’s growing aggressiveness in the region, which the United States described as ‘much larger in scope and size than prior exercises.’
However, Major General Stephen G. Smith, who will be in charge of the exercise’s ground operations, told reporters in Jakarta on Friday that the exercise shouldn’t be interpreted as a reaction to any tensions.
‘This exercise poses no threat to anyone, anywhere, and should not be interpreted as such. This drill is solely between military personnel,’ he stated.
Following news that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi intended to visit Taiwan as early as August, tensions and rhetoric erupted this week. But in a phone chat on Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping mostly avoided escalation, suggesting that neither side — already consumed with domestic economic problems — wants a new crisis across the Taiwan Strait.
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