Super Garuda Shield Begins as Indonesia Balances Security Ties With China and US Allies

Indonesia is emerging as one of the Indo-Pacific's most sought-after strategic partners, deepening defense ties with China, the US, Japan and Australia. It recently began its annual Super Garuda Shield Exercise, with 3,000 combined troops from the US and its allies and partners. Just a week earlier, Jakarta held its second 2+2 meeting with China, agreeing to expand joint military drills and establish munitions factories in Indonesia to co-produce missiles and rockets. Yet Indonesia was quick to downplay a controversial naval “passing exercise” east of Taiwan, which Beijing had used to promote its false sovereignty claims. Meanwhile, Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim used a provocative metaphor in an Aljazeera interview that appeared to justify a hypothetical Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Can the countries of Southeast Asia remain non-aligned? In this episode, we examine Indonesia's evolving defense diplomacy, China's growing security outreach and what these developments mean for the Indo-Pacific. *Recorded on August 27, 2026 at 4pm Taiwan Standard Time Host/Senior Producer: Yin Khvat Planner: Miguel Yang Consultant: Max Yu Research Assistant: Ryan Pham Videographer: Damon Lin Our guests: Chenlung Kuo United Daily News Deputy Editor-in-Chief Collin Koh S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies Senior Fellow Ratih Kabinawa Japan Foundation Southeast Asia Partnership Visiting Research Fellow Chapters: 00:00:00 – Indonesia Boosts Ties with US, China 00:02:48 – Jakarta Plays Down Naval Exercise 00:19:02 – SE Asia Cautiously Engages China #Indonesia #China #UnitedStates #IndonesiaDefense #USIndonesiaRelations #ChinaIndonesiaRelations #IndonesiaChina #IndonesiaUS #Jakarta #Beijing #Washington #PrabowoSubianto #Prabowo #SjafrieSjamsoeddin #IndoPacific #SoutheastAsia #ASEAN #ASEANSecurity #FreeAndActive #FreeAndActiveForeignPolicy #NonAlignment #StrategicAutonomy #StrategicBalance #DefenseCooperation #DefenseIndustry #MilitaryDrills #JointExercises #NavalDrills #PASSEX #PassingExercise #SuperGarudaShield #HepingGaruda #TechTransfer #Pindad #USChinaRivalry #GreatPowerCompetition #StrategicCompetition #DefensePolicy #NationalSecurity #ForeignPolicy #RegionalSecurity #MaritimeSecurity #RegionalStability #DiplomaticTensions #Geopolitics #GeopoliticalAnalysis #InternationalRelations #GlobalSouth #AsiaPacific #IndoPacificSecurity #SouthChinaSea #NorthNatunaSea #ChinaInfluence #USInfluence #DefenseStrategy #SecurityCooperation #MilitaryCooperation #StrategicPartnership #TaiwanPlus #TaiwanTalks