Official Chinese sources announced that the Chinese Navy vessel Honghe and the Indonesian Navy frigate 'Rai' completed a drill on Wednesday morning in waters east of Taiwan. However, the Indonesian Navy stated that the warship conducted a 'passing exercise' with countries along its route while returning home, and that it was not of a combat nature.
On the morning of the 12th, the Honghe and 'Rai' frigate carried out live drills east of Taiwan covering 'maritime communication, formation maneuvers, at-sea replenishment, and a parting ceremony.' Crew on board the Honghe used special tactical signal abbreviations and signal flags to communicate and convey instructions at sea with the 'Rai' frigate.
Indonesian Navy Information Service Director Tunggul issued a statement in response to Taiwan’s Central News Agency on Tuesday, stating that the KRI I Gusti Ngurah Rai-332 (Indonesian Navy ‘Rai’ frigate), after completing an exercise in Vladivostok, Russia, conducted 'passing exercises' (PASSEX) with countries encountered along its journey home to Indonesia.
Tunggul stated that these exercises are fundamentally non-combat in nature, but instead represent a common naval tradition when passing through the waters of another country.
He emphasized that these 'passing exercise' activities are also routine friendly exchanges carried out by navies worldwide, aiming to demonstrate naval camaraderie and the maritime diplomacy embodied by warships. Indonesia’s free and active foreign policy provides opportunities to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation with any country, including conducting 'passing exercises' with multiple countries.
'Passing exercises' are joint trainings conducted by two or more navies when they meet at sea. Their main purpose is to enhance communication, understanding, and cooperation between navies in order to respond to joint rescue or maritime security missions.