China, Indonesia to hold 'Sharp Knife' joint exercise after 14-year hiatus; focus on mountainous hostage-rescue operations, manned-unmanned coordination

From late October to early November, the Chinese and Indonesian militaries will hold the "Sharp Knife 2026" army counter-terrorism joint training exercise in South China's Guangdong Province, China's Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced on Monday. This marks the third iteration of this series and the first in 14 years. A military affairs expert told the Global Times that the exercise falls under non-traditional security cooperation, with both sides restarting the mechanism to jointly combat transnational and local crime and eliminate major risks posed by terrorism. The training this year takes on joint mountain counter-terrorism rescue operations with a focus on mountain climbing, special vehicle driving, helicopter rappelling, close-quarters assault and manned-unmanned coordination, according to the MND. This is the third time the two sides have held this series of joint ­exercises, which will help deepen practical ­exchanges and cooperation between the two militaries and improve their joint operational capabilities, the MND said. Song Zhongping, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times that this amounts to a set of special operations procedures for hostage rescue in a dense, mountainous forest environment: drones conduct reconnaissance first, ground teams climb and use special vehicles to maneuver and seal off the area, helicopters rappel in vertically, and finally close-quarters indoor assaults identify and free hostages. The focus is on dealing with armed hostage-taking strongholds entrenched in mountainous areas. "It looks like hardcore special operations, but this is non-traditional security cooperation. On one hand, it fills gaps in both sides' tactical capabilities for joint operations in complex mountain environments; on the other, it continues to strengthen security coordination with ASEAN countries and serves regional governance needs such as counter-fraud and counter-human trafficking," Song said. In June 2011, the China-Indonesia "Sharp Knife 2011" special forces joint training exercise was held in Bandung, Indonesia. The first joint training was aimed at consolidating friendship, enhancing mutual understanding and trust, promoting practical exchanges and cooperation, and improving counter-terrorism capabilities. In July 2012, the two militaries' special forces held "Sharp Knife 2012" in Jinan, East China's Shandong Province. As the second special forces joint training between the two countries, it aimed to consolidate the results of the first drill. With the series restarting after 14 years, Song said that "Sharp Knife" carries important practical significance. "Indonesia faces both external and homegrown terrorism risks, which is an important reason it needs to strengthen counter-terrorism and non-traditional security drills. At the same time, cross-border telecom fraud, human trafficking and cross-border movement of illicit assets are all key areas where China and Indonesia need to cooperate," the expert said. On one hand, China is also a victim of telecom fraud and needs to cooperate with Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia; on the other, Indonesia needs China's mature counter-terrorism experience, Song added. Notably, since 2025, the Ministerial Meeting of China-Indonesia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue has convened twice. The dialogue is the first ministerial-level "2+2" mechanism China has established globally, providing a new platform for strategic communication between the two countries. In August, Indonesian Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said at the second meeting that Indonesia is ready to strengthen strategic communication with China, enhance exchanges between the two militaries, and deepen cooperation in areas including defense, maritime security, cybersecurity, online gambling and telecommunications fraud, as well as transnational crime, Xinhua reported. Indonesia sits in the Malacca region, and counter-terrorism, counter-piracy and humanitarian assistance are all important areas of China-­Indonesia cooperation, Song said. "Cooperation between the PLA and the Indonesian military is about restarting the relevant mechanisms, sharing information and jointly combating transnational and local crime to eliminate major risks posed by terrorism," he added.