Thailand, a United States-designated major non-NATO ally, conducted an air force exercise with U.S. adversary China after a drill with American forces.

China's Defense Ministry announced on Monday that it will deploy multiple types of aircraft and air-defense ground forces to Thailand for Exercise Falcon Strike 2025 in September, following the end of Exercise Enduring Partners 2025, a U.S.-Thai training event held between August 17 and 29 in the Southeast Asian country.

Newsweek has reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry for comment by email.

Why It Matters

"Major non-NATO ally" is a designation that provides countries with benefits in defense trade and security cooperation. While it symbolizes close relations between the two sides, it does not entail any U.S. security commitment

See Full Page