The People’s Liberation Army said on Wednesday it would carry out a joint drill with Malaysia around the South China Sea next week, announcing the manoeuvres a day after the Philippine and Japanese air forces began a joint exercise over the disputed waters.
This year’s joint drill, Aman Youyi-2025, is the sixth time the exercise has been held, with the first taking place in 2014.
According to the PLA’s Southern Theatre Command, more than 1,000 personnel will take part, with equipment including unmanned systems, naval vessels and helicopters.
The exercise near Malaysian waters would focus on “humanitarian assistance”, “disaster relief” and “maritime security”, the PLA said, adding that other Southeast Asian countries would be invited to observe.
“[The joint exercise] aims to deepen practical cooperation between the Chinese and Southeast Asian militaries and enhance their capacity to jointly address non-traditional security threats and safeguard regional peace and stability,” China’s defence ministry said.
It did not give further details of the weapons or ships involved. The PLA forces taking part set out for Malaysia from ports in Zhanjiang in Guangdong province, Sanya in Hainan province and Hong Kong on Wednesday.
This year’s drill is significantly smaller than the 2023 edition, which was the largest since the exercise was launched. That edition involved 3,000 troops from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam – as well as China and Malaysia.
The exercise, which focused on anti-terrorism and anti-piracy operations, featured one of China’s most advanced warships, the 052D guided missile destroyer Nanning.
It was also noteworthy because of the cooperation between the PLA Navy and ships from the Malaysian and Vietnamese navies – two countries that have competing claims in the South China Sea.
Beijing’s long-running territorial disputes with a number of Southeast Asian nations have made the resource-rich South China Sea a crucial security flashpoint, with the Philippines taking the toughest stance of all the rival claimants in recent years.
Shortly before the PLA announced the joint drill, Japan and the Philippines started a five-day joint air exercise on Tuesday, conducted under the terms of a recently implemented reciprocal access agreement that makes it easier for the armed forces of the two US allies to operate in each other’s territory.
The operation, Doshin-Bayanihan 5-25, will also be used to deliver emergency relief supplies to the Philippine island of Cebu in the wake of last month’s magnitude-6.9 earthquake that killed at least 72 people and caused extensive damage.
Both Malaysia and Vietnam have tried to maintain friendly relations with China despite the long-running South China Sea dispute, although Vietnam has continued building artificial reefs in the waters it controls and there have been occasional clashes with Chinese ships in recent years.
In contrast, Philippine coastguard ships have repeatedly clashed with their Chinese counterparts near disputed features in the Spratly Islands in recent years, while Manila has been working to strengthen its security relationship with Washington and other US allies.
This year it has carried out joint air and sea operations with the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Britain.
Meanwhile, China conducted limited joint drills in the South China Sea with Thailand earlier this year as well as an exercise with Russia – Joint Sea-2025 – near the port of Vladivostok in the Sea of Japan, or East Sea, which drew scrutiny from Washington and Tokyo.
