Hong Kong: Alarm rippled through Australian and New Zealand corridors of power as a Chinese naval task group sailed through waters separating the antipodean nations, firing live rounds and causing commercial jetliners to divert. Simultaneously, China signed an unexpected deal with the Cook Islands to expand its maritime foothold in the South-Pacific.
Three vessels from the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) - the Type 055 cruiser Zunyi, Type 054A frigate Hengyang and Type 903 replenishment ship Weishanhu - sailed deep into the Tasman Sea, the body of water separating Australia and New Zealand. After penetrating so deeply into the maritime region, this was the first time Chinese military live-firing had caused jetliners there to change their flightpaths.
Many believe that such Chinese naval projection is both promoting its strategic interests and putting Australia and New Zealand in their place within a future Chinese-led “community of common destiny”.
After arriving in the Coral Sea on 13 February, the PLAN ship trio sailed south, passing well east of Sydney, before traveling as far as northeast of Tasmania. Whilst on the high seas, the ships broadcast a warning on international radio frequencies on 21 February telling aircraft to stay away from an area 640km from Sydney since they were firing their weapons. A second live-fire exercise closer to New Zealand occurred the following day. At time of writing, the Chinese ships were holding position 520km east of Tasmania.
New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins said the New Zealand government was not “worried”, but was “very aware” of the PLAN activities. Ships and aircraft from the ANZAC allies were closely monitoring the situation. She added, “Nobody wants to overreact, no one wants to get too excitable, everybody wants to stay very calm and understand that, while China is complying with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, it is always quite good to give people notice.”
Indeed, Collins’ major complaint was China’s failure to give sufficient notification of its activities: “They have not deigned to advise us on what they are doing in the middle of the Tasman Sea,” she said.
China hit back at Canberra’s and Wellington’s comments, saying Australia had “deliberately hyped” the PLA’s activities. Wu Qian, a spokesman for China’s National Ministry of Defense, said, “During the period, China organized live-fire training of naval guns toward the sea on the basis of repeatedly issuing prior safety notices,” and that its actions were “in full compliance with international law and international practices, with no impact on aviation flight safety”.
Jennifer Parker, an Expert Associate at the National Security College, Australian National University, agreed that “live-firing exercises on the high seas are standard training practices permitted under international law. Australia does this on our deployments, and we should avoid overreacting. It’s not aggressive; it’s just what warships do on the high seas.” (ANI)
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