The New Zealand Defence Force says New Zealand received no notice from China and that it would be sending three navy ships to the Tasman Sea.
Defence Minister Judith Collins said China was exercising its rights under the UN convention on the law of the sea, that they can travel through those seas.
Collins said China had “not deigned to advise us what they’re doing in the middle of the Tasman Sea” but said it was “quite a significant event”.
It was the first time Chinese warships with that sort of capability had come this far south, she said.
She emphasised it was important everyone understood “we do not live in a benign strategic environment”.
According to the Australian Defence Department, the Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the Renhai-class Cruiser named Zunyi and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu have continued sailing down the coast after being spotted to the north east of the country last week, the ABC reported.
The ships were understood to be sailing east of Sydney.
British newspaper the Financial Times was reporting that the ships were about 150 nautical miles from the coast.
The visit came as the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel Paparo, was in Australia and was due to meet Australia’s Chief of Joint Operations in Canberra today.
Collins said the NZ Defence Force was monitoring the task group, alongside Australia.
“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.
“We will continue to monitor these vessels.”
Labour said the three Chinese navy ships sailing east of Sydney seemed like a “provocative move”, and should be taken seriously. Leader Chris Hipkins said he was yet to receive a briefing on the matter from the Government.
Chinese ships sailed into Sydney Harbour in 2019, however that visit was in coordination with the Australian government.
A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry was unable to answer media questions in Australia yesterday afternoon about the three ships near the east coast, saying he was not familiar with the situation, the ABC reported.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles told Sky News the ships were not breaching international law but their moves were being closely followed.
“They have been abiding by international law but there is no doubt that this is not an unprecedented but an unusual event,” he said.
Overreacting likely ‘counter-productive’ — security expert
A naval and security expert said it was a provocative act, but it was best to stay calm.
Emeritus professor of international relations at the University of Auckland — and honorary captain in the New Zealand Navy — Stephen Hoadley said they were just testing the boundaries.
“Over-reacting is probably counter-productive, [in] that it gives the Chinese the satisfaction to know that they’re having a big impact on our psyche.”
It should be business as usual, while making clear to China at a diplomatic level that, if they are not hostile, neither are we, he said.
Hoadley added it was likely coincidental that the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command was in Australia, or that it came days after the US shocked Europe by stepping back from its security to focus much more on the Indo-Pacific.
“[The Chinese ships] do not pose an immediate threat,” he said.
“They’re showing the flag, they’re showing that China has a blue-water capacity, that they can move around the world at will.”
When Western warships were off China, as they frequently were, “we don’t want the Chinese to overreact”.
The University of Waikato’s Reuben Steff, who had just written a book on Great Power Competition, said US President Donald Trump was trying to de-escalate in Eastern Europe to free resources to the Indo-Pacific, and so China had a “major incentive to take action” to improve its position before that happened, and disrupt US strategy.
A research director at Waikato, Brian Cole, said the ships represented a “strategic demonstration of power projection”.
