CANBERRA/WELLINGTON – China’s live-fire naval exercises in the Tasman Sea triggered heightened concern but relatively muted criticism from the leaders of Australia and New Zealand on Feb 22.
The two smaller economies, which have been at odds with Beijing over strategic issues such as tensions in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, are highly dependent on the Asian nation for trade.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said China had acted within international law, but that “it would be appropriate to have been given more warning of this potential event taking place”. Australia, too, undertakes activities in international waters and international airspace, he said.
His New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon echoed that view over the exercises, Radio New Zealand reported.
A spokesperson for Defence Minister Judith Collins said in a statement on Feb 22 that the Chinese naval task group had advised of a second window for live firing activity that afternoon. Personnel on New Zealand Navy frigate Te Kaha later observed live rounds fired from a Chinese vessel’s main gun.
Mr Albanese was clear in acknowledging the importance of Australia’s trading relationship with China when asked by a reporter if he would be looking at some sort of retaliation over the live-fire drills.
“You do know that most of the trade goes from here to there, not the other way round, and I’ve worked pretty hard to make sure that products including seafood products can get into China,” Mr Albanese said.
He added that there are “one in four Australian jobs that depend upon trade and China is our major trading partner”.
Australian and New Zealand vessels and aircraft had been monitoring the three Chinese warships, which first appeared off the coast of the Northern Territory a week ago. The exercises on Feb 21 caused commercial airlines to divert flights.
China’s military keeps the locations of its live-fire drills vague, with a Chinese military report on Feb 20 saying the People’s Liberation Army was conducting such an operation in “a certain sea area”.
The operation marks a rare case of such exercises being reported far from Chinese territory, in a sign that Beijing is projecting its military power deeper into the Indo-Pacific.
The exercises appear at odds with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent efforts to dial down diplomatic tensions with US allies in order to buffer against economic turbulence brought by the return of Mr Donald Trump as US president.
Ties between Canberra and Beijing have warmed over the past three years, leading China to remove trade curbs imposed following a spat over Australia’s support for a probe into Covid-19’s origins.
“This is a very unusual demonstration of force so far from China’s mainland, without clear messaging from China about its intentions towards New Zealand and Australia,” said Mr Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
It “disrupted civil aviation and raises serious doubts about the credibility of Beijing’s rhetoric and assertion that it is not a threat to the peace and stability of the entire Pacific”.
China’s motives could be linked to repeated freedom of navigation operations carried out by Australia in the South China Sea, as well as sailing through the Taiwan Strait as recently as 2024, said Dr Euan Graham, acting director of Defence Strategy and National Security at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think-tank.
“One element will be to demonstrate to Australia that if you come close to us, we can also come close to you – and in greater numbers,” he added, calling the moves “very deliberately disruptive”.
Australia earlier in February accused the Chinese air force of an “unsafe and unprofessional interaction” with one of its military aircraft over the South China Sea where Beijing has territorial disputes.
China’s Foreign Ministry rejected that accusation, saying the Australian plane “deliberately intruded into China’s airspace”.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said at a regular briefing in Beijing on Feb 20 that this week’s military exercises were held in a safe manner in accordance with international law, AFP reported.
Former US President Joe Biden had secured a convergence between America and its allies in the Asia-Pacific in recent years in viewing China as a security issue, leaving Beijing looking isolated regionally.
Mr Trump’s threats to claim territory from key United States security partners, and impose tariffs on them, risk fracturing those partnerships and giving China a freer hand.
Australia and China have maintained a defence dialogue to avoid miscommunication over such issues, said Dr Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Centre at East China Normal University in Shanghai.
“Australia’s military has conducted reconnaissance and exercises near the East China Sea and South China Sea, and even in waters that China claims,” he added.
“Australia has overreacted by diverting flights.” BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
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