Australia, New Zealand monitoring 3 Chinese warships off Australia

MELBOURNE, Australia — The Australian and New Zealand militaries were monitoring three Chinese warships moving unusually far south along Australia’s east coast on an unknown mission, officials said Thursday.

The Australian government revealed a week ago that the warships had traveled through Southeast Asia and the Coral Sea and were approaching northeast Australia.

Defense Minister Richard Marles said Thursday that the Chinese ships — the naval frigate Hengyang, cruiser Zunyi and replenishment vessel Weishanhu — were “off the east coast of Australia.”

Defense officials did not respond to a request for comment on a Financial Times report that the task group from China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army, was 150 nautical miles east of Sydney.

“There is no doubt that this is, not unprecedented, but an unusual event,” Marles told Sky News television.

Australia says Chinese warships entitled to deploy off Australian coast

Marles said Australian navy ships and air force planes were monitoring the Chinese ships’ movements through international waters that are in Australia’s exclusive economic zone, the area beyond its territorial waters where a nation has exclusive economic rights.

“They’re entitled to be where they are; Australia is also entitled to be prudent, and we are monitoring very closely what the activities of the task group are,” Marles told reporters.

“What we will do whenever this mission is over on the part of the Chinese task group is engage in a full assessment of what the Chinese were seeking to achieve in respect of this mission,” he added.

In Beijing, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun was asked at a media briefing Wednesday about the Chinese warships’ location and replied he was not aware of the situation. The Chinese Embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Australia engages with Papua New Guinea and New Zealand over Chinese warships

Marles said Australia had engaged with its nearest neighbor Papua New Guinea over its response because the Chinese had traveled around the South Pacific island nation’s coast on their way to Australia’s exclusive economic zone.

Australia was also “working very closely” with New Zealand, which is separated from the Australian east coast by the Tasman Sea, he said.

New Zealand’s military was also monitoring the Chinese ships by sea and air “in coordination with Australia,” New Zealand Defense Minister Judith Collins said in a statement.

“We have not been informed by the Chinese government why this task group has been deployed into our region, and we have not been informed what its future plans are,” she added. “We will continue to monitor these vessels.”

Experts says China’s navy is projecting power around the world

Jennifer Parker, an expert associate of Australia’s National Security College and a former Australian naval officer, said Chinese warships rarely traveled so far south along the nation’s east coast.

“This is part of a broader power projection from the PLA-Navy and we should expect to see more of this in the Pacific and in the Indian Ocean,” Parker said.

The Chinese deployment comes as the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Adm. Samuel Paparo visits Australia this week.

Parker said the timing was likely coincidental given the Chinese deployment would have been planned well in advance and the United States doesn’t release information about their senior officers’ travel until close to the visit.

“Without knowing exactly where the ships are going, the point of this deployment, I think, is to demonstrate to Australia that they have the capability to come down and operate in our maritime domain,” Parker said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a news conference he was not worried by reports of Chinese warships off Sydney.

“The Chinese naval ships are complying with international law, but as we do, we are monitoring the situation and observing what is going on, as you would expect,” Albanese said.

Relations between the Chinese and Australian militaries remain dangerous

Three Chinese warships visited Sydney Harbor in 2019. But their voyage had been approved by the Australian government.

Australia’s diplomatic and trade relations with China have improved in recent years, but relations between the two militaries are dangerous.

Australia protested what it described as an unsafe interaction last week over the South China Sea where a Chinese fighter is accused of releasing flares that endangered an Australian military surveillance plane.

Guo, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, accused the Australian aircraft of “deliberately” intruding into airspace over the disputed Paracel Islands, which China claims.

Associated Press writer Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.

澳大利亚墨尔本——官员们周四表示，澳大利亚和新西兰军方正在监视三艘中国军舰，这些军舰异常地沿着澳大利亚东海岸向南航行，执行不明任务。

澳大利亚政府一周前透露，这些军舰已穿越东南亚和珊瑚海，正在接近澳大利亚东北部。

国防部长理查德·马尔斯周四表示，中国军舰——海军护卫舰衡阳号、巡洋舰遵义号和补给舰微山湖号——“位于澳大利亚东海岸附近”。

对于《金融时报》的一篇报道，称中国人民解放军特遣队位于悉尼以东 150 海里处，国防部官员没有回应置评请求。

“毫无疑问，这虽然不是史无前例的，但却是一件不同寻常的事件，”马勒斯告诉天空新闻电视台。

澳大利亚称中国军舰有权在澳大利亚海岸附近部署

马尔斯表示，澳大利亚海军舰艇和空军飞机正在监视中国船只在澳大利亚专属经济区内的国际水域的活动，专属经济区是指一个国家在其领海之外拥有专属经济权利的区域。

“他们有权待在那里；澳大利亚也有权谨慎行事，我们正在密切关注工作组的活动，”马尔斯告诉记者。

他补充说：“一旦中国特遣队完成这项任务，我们将对中国希望通过这项任务实现的目标进行全面评估。”

周三，中国外交部发言人郭家坤在北京举行的例行记者会上被问及中国军舰的所在位置，他回答说并不知情。周四，中国驻澳大利亚大使馆未立即回应置评请求。

澳大利亚就中国军舰问题与巴布亚新几内亚和新西兰进行交涉

马勒斯表示，澳大利亚已就应对措施与最近的邻国巴布亚新几内亚进行了沟通，因为中国人员在前往澳大利亚专属经济区的途中绕过了这个南太平洋岛国的海岸。

他还表示，澳大利亚正与新西兰“密切合作”，新西兰与澳大利亚东海岸隔着塔斯曼海。

新西兰国防部长朱迪思·柯林斯在一份声明中表示，新西兰军方也在“与澳大利亚协调”通过海空对中国船只进行监视。

她补充说：“中国政府没有告知我们为何要向我们地区部署这支特遣队，也没有告知我们其未来的计划。我们将继续监控这些船只。”

专家称，中国海军正在向世界各地投射力量

澳大利亚国家安全学院专家研究员、前澳大利亚海军军官詹妮弗·帕克表示，中国军舰很少沿着该国东海岸向南航行这么远。

帕克说：“这是解放军海军更广泛力量投射的一部分，我们应该会在太平洋和印度洋看到更多这样的行动。”

中国此次部署正值美国印太司令部司令塞缪尔·帕帕罗海军上将本周访问澳大利亚之际。

帕克表示，考虑到中国此次部署是提前计划好的，而且美国通常要到访问临近时才会公布高级军官的出行信息，因此此次事件发生的时间很可能只是巧合。

帕克说：“虽然不知道这些舰艇的具体目的地，但我认为此次部署的目的是向澳大利亚展示，他们有能力来到我们的海域进行作战。”

澳大利亚总理安东尼·阿尔巴尼斯在新闻发布会上表示，他对有关中国军舰出现在悉尼附近的报道并不感到担忧。

阿尔巴尼斯说：“中国海军舰艇遵守了国际法，但正如我们所料，我们也在监控局势，观察事态发展。”

中澳两军关系依然危险。

2019年，三艘中国军舰访问了悉尼港。但它们的航行已获得澳大利亚政府的批准。

近年来，澳大利亚与中国的外交和贸易关系有所改善，但两国军队之间的关系仍然危险。

澳大利亚对上周在南海发生的所谓不安​​全互动表示抗议，据称一架中国战斗机释放了照明弹，危及了一架澳大利亚军用侦察机的安全。

中国外交部发言人郭文贵指责澳大利亚飞机“蓄意”侵入中国声称拥有主权的有争议的西沙群岛上空。

美联社驻新西兰惠灵顿记者夏洛特·格雷厄姆-麦克莱对本报道亦有贡献。