The military troops from New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Britain and Malaysia take part in a three-week large scale military exercises in one of the world's busiest waterways organized by Singapore.
As they begun the annual military games, the Royal Australian Air Force Wing Commander, Greg Jervis made it clear that the military exercise is not meant to send a message to China.
"Absolutely not, the Australian position in the South China Sea has always been consistent and clear,"Jervis told the ABC in an interview from an air force base in Malaysia.
The Australian Commander said that the annual military exercise is extremely useful and made it clear that they do not use these strategies to take sides on competing territorial claims or anything like that.
"The aim of the exercise is to enhance the operability of the armed forces of Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand and the UK by extending the knowledge of each other's tactics and our operational staff positions," he said.
"So in essence we get to practice our planning and coordination in the combined joined operational procedures within the region," the Commander further added.
There are around 400 Australian personnel who are participating in the "Exercise Bersama Lima", together with the four allies that compose the Five Powers Defense Arrangement (FPDA) nations.
