The three People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels are continuing their way around Australia, according to the latest Defence Department update.
The three Chinese Communist Party (CCP) warships that have put Australia on edge for the past two weeks are now entering the southern part of the continent, the Great Australian Bight.
The Bight is an enormous open bay that comprises much of the southern coastline of mainland Australia.
The flotilla of naval vessels have traversed down the eastern coastline of Australia within the country’s exclusive economic zone, passing Sydney, before finding a position in the Tasman Sea to conduct live fire naval exercises.
While the ships moved into position to begin the exercise, Australia’s Defence Department was unable to confirm if any weaponry was actually fired.
However, the exercise caused a stir due to the late notice given to authorities by the CCP crew—a standard practice for naval exercises.
Commercial planes were flying near the exercise zone for about 30 minutes before air traffic control was notified, further, 49 flights were forced to re-route.
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The three ships, the Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the heavily armed Renhai-class cruiser Zunyi, and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu, continued their journey southwest around Tasmania and are now moving along the southern oceans of Australia.
In a statement issued on Feb. 27, the Defence Department said the vessels were currently operating about 296 nautical miles (548 kilometres) west of Hobart and were entering the Bight.
The flotilla is being monitored by Australian and New Zealand personnel.
Last week, Defence Minister Richard Marles described the activity of the Chinese vessels as “unusual” but not unprecedented, saying the ships were not a threat as their conduct was in accordance with international law.
“We are keeping close watch on them and we will be making sure that we watch every move,” he told media.
Call for Answers
Earlier, The Epoch Times reported that Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had pressed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for “not answering” basic questions about the timeline of the live fire drill staged in the Tasman Sea.
Airservices Australia was first notified of the exercises being carried out by the flotilla at 9.58 a.m. on Feb. 21, after a Virgin Australia pilot who had been flying in the vicinity raised the alarm.
The pilot overheard a warning from the Chinese ships on a radio frequency monitored by pilots, but not by air traffic control.
An Emirates airlines pilot also communicated directly with the Chinese ships and was informed the exercise had started at 9.30 a.m., meaning there was a half-hour gap between the live fire and awareness by Australia’s official flight traffic controller.
“I hope that the prime minister can come out and give an honest account of what the government knew, and when, in relation to [these] naval ships that are off our coastline, what warnings the government had,” Opposition Leader Dutton said.
