More than 30,000 military personnel participate in the biennial exercises, collectively referred to as the “Talisman Sabre”. The military also comes from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, New Zealand and Canada, among others. According to Australia, this tenth edition is larger than those of previous years.
Australia expects China to monitor the two-week exercises from a distance. A Chinese spy ship was sighted off the northeast coast on Thursday, an army official said. Most army exercises are held in the northeastern state of Queensland.