The warships have circumnavigated Australia for the past three weeks.
A March 6 update from the Australian Defence Force (ADF) shows the three Chinese Communist Party (CCP) warships circumnavigating Australia are now 630 nautical miles (1166 kilometres) north west of Perth.
The ADF is continuing to monitor the vessels which comprise the Jiangkai-class frigate, Hengyang, the heavily armed Renhai-class cruiser, Zunyi, and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu.
The ship were first noted in the Coral Sea to the north-east of the country before it began sailing south along the coastline near Sydney.
The ships then staged unprecedented live fire exercises in the Tasman Sea without proper warning, leading to concern from pilots.
Then the flotilla headed west along the south of the continent and through the Great Australian Bight.
A military blog on Chinese social media channel “Watching Sea and Sky,“ has been following closely the progress of the ships, suggesting the trio could complete its ”return trip” and visit Darwin.
Governments Differ on Approach
Last week, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has stood by the government’s response to the CCP vessels.
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Wong said Labor’s approach was to be “calm and consistent,” rather than inflame tensions.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for making statements about the timeline of the live fire exercise that appeared to contradict the ADF.
On Feb. 26, Albanese said civilian and military organisations had heard about the exercise at about the same time.
However, ADF chief David Johnston revealed they first received notice from Airservices Australia and about one hour later heard from the New Zealand military.
Foreign Minister Wong accused the opposition of making the incident an election issue.
“The same people who had no regard for the consequences for Australian exporters or for Chinese Australian communities are at it again, trying to turn China into an election issue,” Wong said.
