Photo: AFP / Australian Defence Force
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) says New Zealand received no notice from China that it would be sending three navy ships to the Tasman Sea.
Defence Minister Judith Collins said China was exercising its rights under the UN convention on the law of the sea, that they can travel through those seas.
Collins said China had "not deigned to advise us what they're doing in the middle of the Tasman sea" but said it was "quite a significant event".
It was the first time Chinese warships with that sort of capability had come this far south, she said.
She emphasised it was important everyone understood "we do not live in a benign strategic environment."
According to the Australian Defence Department, the Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the Renhai-class Cruiser named Zunyi and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu have continued sailing down the coast after being spotted to the north east of the country last week, the ABC reported.
The ships are understood to be sailing east of Sydney. British newspaper the Financial Times is reporting that the ships are about 150 nautical miles from the coast.
The visit comes as the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel Paparo, is in Australia and is due to meet Australia's Chief of Joint Operations in Canberra on Thursday.
Collins said the NZDF was monitoring the task group, alongside Australia.
"We have not been informed by the Chinese government why this task group has been deployed into our region, and we have not been informed what its future plans are.
"We will continue to monitor these vessels."
The Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang was among the Chinese flotilla sailing east of Sydney. Photo: AFP / Australian Defence Force
Labour said the three Chinese navy ships sailing east of Sydney seemed like a "provocative move", and should be taken seriously.
Leader Chris Hipkins said he has not yet received a briefing on it from the government.
Chinese ships sailed into Sydney harbour in 2019, however that visit was done in coordination with the Australian government.
A spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry was unable to answer media questions in Australia on Wednesday afternoon about the three ships sailing near the east coast, saying he was not familiar with the situation, the ABC reported.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles has told Sky News, while the ships were not breaching international law, their moves were being closely followed.
"They have been abiding by international law but there is no doubt that this is not an unprecedented but an unusual event," he said.
Over-reacting likely 'counter-productive' - naval and security expert
A naval and security expert said it was a provocative act, but it was best to stay calm.
University of Auckland retired international relations professor, and honorary captain in the New Zealand Navy, Stephen Hoadley said they were just testing the boundaries.
"Over-reacting is probably counter-productive, [in] that it gives the Chinese the satisfaction to know that they're having a big impact on our psyche."
It should be business as usual, while making clear to China at a diplomatic level that if they are not hostile, neither are we, he said.
Hoadley added it was likely coincidental the ships were there at the same time as the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command was in Australia, or that it came days after the US shocked Europe by stepping back from its security to focus much more on the Indo-Pacific.
"They do not pose an immediate threat.
"They're showing the flag, they're showing that China has a blue-water capacity, that they can move around the world at will."
When Western warships were off China, as they frequently were, "we don't want the Chinese to over-react".
The University of Waikato's Reuben Steff, who has just written a book on Great Power Competition, said with Donald Trump trying to de-escalate in Eastern Europe to free resources to the Indo-Pacific, China had a "major incentive to take action" to improve its position before that happened, and disrupt US strategy.
A research director at Waikato, Brian Cole, said the ships represented a "strategic demonstration of power projection".
- RNZ / ABC
