‘Watch every move’: Chinese warships spotted 150 nautical miles from Sydney

The Australian Defence Force said in a statement on Wednesday night it was “monitoring the People’s Liberation Army-Navy Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the Renhai-class cruiser named Zunyi and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu, which continue to operate to the east of Australia.”

The London Financial Times reported the vessels had come as close as 150 nautical miles – 278 kilometres – from the coast of Sydney.

This is believed to be the furthest down the east coast that Chinese navy ships have travelled without being on an official military visit to Australia.

“Defence routinely monitors all maritime traffic in Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone and maritime approaches,” the ADF said.

“Australia respects the rights of all states to exercise freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters and airspace, under international law, particularly the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

While the three Chinese ships had not breached international law, the ADF was concerned enough to issue a rare statement about their presence within Australia’s exclusive economic zone last week.

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The Chinese vessels travelled through South-East Asia before entering Australia’s maritime approaches.

Marles said last week, when the ships were to Australia’s north, that the government was “responding in a serious way” to the ships’ presence, even though China had acted “perfectly in accordance with international law”.

“I’ve ordered a deployment of both navy and air force assets to make sure that we are shadowing this to have a clear understanding of what’s going on,” Marles said.

Jennifer Parker, an expert associate at the Australian National University’s National Security College, said: “I assume this is Defence trying to communicate with the Australian public that Chinese military behaviour in the region is changing.”

Parker, a former naval officer, said the PLA was “becoming more expeditionary and is operating further from China’s shores”.

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