Australia, New Zealand, alarmed by Chinese warships in Tasman Sea

A group of Chinese naval ships, including an impressive warship that legally sails in the Tasman Sea, has alarm in Australia and New Zealand because they were in unusually southern waters and were on an unkalized mission.

Australian officials said on Thursday that they monitored the ships exactly – a cruiser, a frigate and a supply ship. They have been following them since last week when they were discovered in front of Australia’s northeast coast.

This week, the three ships traveled within 150 nautical miles of Sydney, outside of Australia’s sovereign waters, but in his exclusive economic zone, according to an Australian government official on the condition of anonymity. Her presence near Sydney was first reported by the Financial Times.

China’s military did not comment on the naval ships publicly, and the Chinese embassy in Australia did not answer a request for a comment.

Richard Marles, Australian Minister of Defense and deputy prime minister, said that the ships operate according to international law and that the Australian military closely observed their activities from the sea and from the air. In a television interview, he said that the presence of the Chinese Navy in the area was “not unprecedented”, but “unusual”.

“We are watching you exactly and will make sure we watch every movement,” he said.

Chinese warships died in the port of Sydney Hafen in 2019, which the then prime minister referred to as a “mutual visit” after the Australian naval ships visited Chinese ports. This time Australian officials said that they were in the dark about where the ships were led and what their goal was.

However, Australia had a good reason to get his coast with the proximity of the Chinese warships, says Bec String, an expert in maritime disputes, in view of the recent history of China, in controversial waters such as the South Chinese Sea and against the maritime rules .

“What does the Chinese Navy do so far south?” said Ms. String, professor of international relations at La Trobe University. “That would be what causes fear. If this intelligence gathers, is this really only signaled for Australia that the Chinese can also have naval presence in these areas? “

One of the ships is the cruiser Zunyi of the Renhai class, which the US Naval Institute has referred to as “the most impressive warships above water”.

Collin Koh, a senior scholarship holder at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said that one of the latest and most powerful warships in the Chinese Navy made it clear that the trip sent a message about China’s military, the People’s Presentation Army.

“It should demonstrate the naval power,” he said. “Australia and the USA should signal that the PLA navy is not restricted in movements and actions.”

The New Zealand Minister of Defense Judith Collins said on Thursday that his military had monitored the movements of the ships together with Australia. She said she was concerned about the types of the ships involved and the lack of communication from China.

“I’m sorry to say that things are tense,” said China in September an intercontinental ballistic rocket that landed in the Pacific Ocean, said Ms. Collins, according to the New Zealand Herald Reporters in Wellington, the capital.

Last week, an Australian Maritime Patrouilla plane had a close encounter with a Chinese fighter plane over the South Chinese Sea. The Australian defense forces accused the Chinese that an “unsafe and unprofessional” behavior was behavior, while a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Australia of provocation and penetration into the Chinese area.