Australia dispatched warships to track a Chinese flotilla off the country’s east coast, according to a newspaper report. It comes as China expands its naval reach and presence in the Pacific Ocean.
Newsweek has emailed both the Australian and Chinese defense ministries for comment.
Why It Matters
China has the largest navy in the world by hull count, according to the Pentagon, with over 370 ships and submarines in service. Last year, the Chinese military sent its ships to countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the South Pacific Ocean.
Beijing and Washington are currently jostling for influence in the vast Pacific, with the Chinese navy engaging in a show of force in the southern part of the ocean. It sent two destroyers to Vanuatu last October, challenging America’s naval dominance in the region.
What To Know
Citing people familiar with the situation, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday that a Chinese naval task group, composed of two warships and a supply ship, transited the waters 150 nautical miles east of Sydney, on Australia‘s east coast. Newsweek was unable to independently verify the report.
Newsweek‘s map shows the reported location is within Australia’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone in the Tasman Sea, beyond its 12-nautical-mile territorial sea, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS.
This is the furthest the Chinese navy has sailed down the Australian east coast, which was unprecedented for Beijing’s rapidly expanding fleet, one person told the newspaper. The Chinese flotilla is now shadowed by two Royal Australian Navy ships, the report added.
Last Thursday, the Australian military announced that three Chinese naval ships, including the Type 055 destroyer CNS Zunyi, the Type 054A frigate CNS Hengyang, and the Type 903 replenishment vessel CNS Weishanhu, were in the Coral Sea northeast of Australia.
The presence of the Chinese navy off the Australian east coast comes after the two nations held a defense meeting on Monday. The Australian officials underscored the importance of adherence to the UNCLOS, which provides a legal framework for all maritime activities.
Australian Defense Department
Meanwhile, Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific region, was visiting Australia as of Wednesday. The U.S.-Australian bilateral relationship “acts as an anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” the U.S. military claimed.
What People Are Saying
The Australian Department of Defense said of China’s naval presence in the Coral Sea: “Australia respects the rights of all states to exercise freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with international law, just as we expect others to respect Australia’s right to do the same.”
The Pentagon said in its Chinese military power report: “The [People’s Liberation Army Navy] continues to develop into a global force, gradually extending its operational reach beyond East Asia into a sustained ability to operate at increasingly longer ranges.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen how far the Chinese naval task group will reach in the South Pacific Ocean. A second Chinese flotilla, composed of seven vessels that included a suspected laser-armed warship, was operating in the Western Pacific Ocean since last Tuesday.
