South Korean soldiers pose for a photo during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 in Australia on July 14, 2025. The exercise is Australia's largest-ever war-fighting drill. Photo: VCG

Hailed as the largest-ever war-fighting drills in Australia and with over 35,000 military personnel participating, the joint exercise Talisman Sabre primarily led by the US and Australia is currently underway, AP reported on Monday.  Meanwhile, Australian military officials do not forget to "involve" China, claiming the drills are expected to attract the attention of Chinese ships. A Chinese military affair expert said on Monday that the actions of the Chinese navy vessels have always been in accordance with international law and international practices.

According to Australian Department of Defense, this year's Talisman Sabre, in its 11th iteration, is the largest and most sophisticated warfighting exercise ever conducted in Australia. The exercise will consist of live-fire exercises and field training activities, incorporating force preparation activities, amphibious landings, ground force maneuvers, and air combat and maritime operations.

Talisman Sabre 2025 is scheduled to run from July 13 to August 4, with 19 participating countries, per Australian Department of Defense. 

According to AP, the 19 participating countries are Australia, the US, Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the UK. Malaysia and Vietnam are also attending as observers.

The Indo-Pacific Defense FORUM reported that for the first time drills will be staged outside Australia, with the Papua New Guinea Defence Force hosting joint activities with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and US forces. In another first, about 130 Republic of Fiji Military Forces personnel have deployed to Australia for five months to support exercises including Talisman Sabre.

Under the current "America First" ideology pushed by Washington, Australia is concerned about its position and interests in the South Pacific region, Yu Lei, a professor from the Department of International Politics and Economics at Shandong University, told the Global Times on Monday.

At the same time, Australia wants to take this opportunity to restore the once very close relationships with the South Pacific island nations, Yu added.

According to Australian Defence Magazine, speaking prior to the opening ceremony of Exercise Talisman Sabre in Sydney on Sunday night, Vice Admiral Justin Jones, ADF chief of joint operations, confirmed he was anticipating Chinese naval monitoring of Australia's largest military exercise with the US. "I fully expect that the People's Republic of China will want to observe the activities that are part of Exercise Talisman Sabre but as yet there's no sign of them," Jones said.

Chinese surveillance ships have monitored naval exercises off the Australian coast during the last four Talisman Sabre exercises and are expected to surveil the current exercise, Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said, as reported by AP.

Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times that it is normal for Chinese navy ships to operate near the US-Australia exercise area, and that China, like other countries, has the right to freedom of navigation.

Zhang said that a prime example of Chinese naval vessels' legal action is that during the previous Talisman Sabre exercises, Australia had also hyped up the presence of Chinese naval vessels.