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Australia warned commercial airlines that Chinese warships were conducting “real-time fire” military exercises on the country’s east coast, prompting them to re-flight.
The Financial Times revealed this week that a Chinese naval mission team consisting of two warships and a supply ship traveled within 150 nautical miles of Sydney, a man familiar with the matter called “unprecedented” along the way Australia’s coast moves.
The ships were shaded by Australian and New Zealand forces.
Australian authorities warned that China exercised a flight in the Tasman Sea on Friday.
The Civil Aviation Administration and Airservices Australia are an air traffic control agency that is aware of reports of direct fires used in international waters and “preventive measures” recommend airlines to plan flights to Reroute.
A Qantas spokesman said the airline “adjusted some flights”, including those of its Jetstar subsidiary, and would “monitorize the situation.”
An Air New Zealand spokesman said the airline had modified its flight paths to avoid the area.
Australian officials said Beijing informed the exercises in advance, which were legal and carried out in international waters.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had consulted with the Defence Force and his New Zealand rival Christopher Luxon during the exercise.
“When this happens, the airline is notified and away from the region,” Albanes said, adding that there is no “imminent danger” to assets in Australia or New Zealand.
Although Beijing is trying to project its influence, and the military may develop further in the Pacific, these exercises have attracted attention.
New Zealand Defense Minister Judith Collins said this week that the existence of the “powerful” Chinese warship is a “wake call” in an area that has long relied on its geographical isolation as a form of defense guarantee.
Last Sunday, Chinese state media announced that a fleet, frigate and supply ship Weishanhu, a fleet of destroyers Zunyi (one of China’s most modern warships), was underway for a multi-day “realistic far-sea training” meeting in the Pacific.
The trip comes after a similar training mission conducted by the same naval task force in the northern Pacific by Lunar new Year Holiday in late January.
The exercise marks a rare moment when the Chinese Navy’s on-site fire exercises are far from Chinese territory.
In the past, aviation warnings about airspace or waters have been issued in the Pacific or large-scale military exercises to issue navigation warnings for space or waters. Live exercises in the distant oceans were conducted from other national territories.
In October last year, China and Russia said they fired live ammunition during an anti-noble war exercise in the Pacific Northwest. Some PLA naval anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden include on-site training, but only small arms.
“Chinese ships are not common here, but it is conveying a message that it targets Australia’s main vulnerability, which is at sea,” said Jennifer Parker, an assistant at the Australian National University’s National Security School.
Parker added that live drills are not uncommon, but if shooting occurs under the flight route, it will be “bad form.” “It’s not radical, but it’s not good,” she said.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong faced her opponent, Wang Yi, at a meeting of the G20 Foreign Minister in Johannesburg on Friday to “transparency related to these exercises, especially those in live fire drills.”
