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
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