This handout photo taken on February 13, 2025 and released by The Australian Defence Force shows the Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Arunta (lower L) sailing near the People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) Fuchi-class replenishment vessel and Weishanhu Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang in the Tasman Sea. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP
Defence Minister Judith Collins says the presence of Chinese warships carrying out live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea is "unusual", but nothing Kiwis need to be worried about.
The New Zealand Defence Force - in conjunction with Australian authorities - are continuing to monitor three Chinese naval ships off the coast of Australia's Tasmania. Flights between the two countries had to be diverted, with complaints there was no prior warning given.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said China did not inform New Zealand before carrying out a live-fire drill on Friday,
But China says complaints from New Zealand and Australia have been "hyped up", "unreasonable " and inconsistent with the facts.
The fleet consists of the Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the Renhai-class cruiser Zunyi and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu.
Australian defense minister Richard Marlesm - also the deputy prime minister - said at the weekend Australia and New Zealand were simply trying to understand what was happening.
"We have in an unprecedented way, put in place assets to shadow this, to shadow the task group so that we know exactly what's happening. We're working very closely with New Zealand in relation to this. It was actually a New Zealand frigate, Te Kaha, which is in the vicinity of the task group now, and I've been in close contact with my New Zealand counterpart Defense Minister Judith Collins about this."
Morning Report asked for an interview with the Chinese ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong, but the embassy did not respond.
Collins told Morning Report that China's claim it gave sufficient warning to New Zealand and Australia was "wrong".
"There was a warning to civil aviation flights that was basically a very short amount of notice - a couple of hours - as opposed to what we would consider best practice, which is 12 to 24 hours' notice so that aircraft are not having to be quickly diverted when they're on the wing.
"So actually it is unusual and… we are seeking assurance from the Chinese embassy around that."
Collins said China was staying quiet on what else its ships might do this week, including whether they might sail closer to New Zealand.
"They're not telling us what they're planning, but I can tell you that the ships are currently around 280 nautical miles east of Tasmania. So the ships have slightly changed their formation, but of course, we are monitoring it and Te Kaha has been out there, basically monitoring and doing what you'd expect us to be doing.
"We don't know what their intention is, but we're taking them at face value that they are undertaking normal transits when it comes to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, that they're not breaking the law. But as we've said, it is always better to give a lot more notice when it comes to live firing."
Judith Collins. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
She linked the activity to recent moves by China to increase its influence in the Pacific, such as its "unusual" deal with the Cook Islands to get access to its seabed minerals.
"I don't think New Zealanders should be worried. I think we should be very aware that we live in a world of increasing geopolitical,, competition, that the seabed of the Pacific Ocean is viewed by some countries as an area of enormous resource, and that you can see it with the Cook Islands and China agreements that clearly, seabed mining is a major priority for some countries."
"We have to be aware that we are in a situation - as I've said at the Munich Security Conference - in the Indo-Pacific region of sitting on an enormous treasury with a very small lock to protect it."
New Zealand did sometimes send ships through the contested Taiwan Strait, between rivals Taiwan and China - such as the Aotearoa last year - but Collins said they never carried out live-fire exercises.
"New Zealand has a duty to help to keep open shipping lanes - shipping lanes that are in some cases, very difficult for nations. And when we do our work, we do so under the UN conventions and we are very careful of what we do.
"We're certainly not having live firing range activities in the South China Sea or the Taiwan Straits. We are very careful, very responsible, very professional, and we give full notice of everything we need to do… The Aotearoa is a supply ship, it's a tanker, and the fact is that it was returning from our exercises from North Korea around the sanctions busting. So it is really important that we need to be able to get out of that area as well."
Collins said the advice she has received is that none of the Chinese vessels were nuclear-powered, but "the weapons they have are extremely capable".
Australia reacts
ABC defense correspondent Andrew Greene told Morning Report the military over there has seen the visit by Chinese warships as a "wake-up call".
"The reaction certainly inside military ranks is similar to what you're experiencing in New Zealand. This is being seen as very unusual, and I would say a bit of a wake-up call for the Australian Defence Force, which has not had to deal with a potential threat like this, or an act that requires monitoring so close to the east coast of Australia for decades.
"Politicians though have been a little bit more muted. The Australian prime minister has stressed repeatedly that China is acting within international rules, which it is, but it took two days for Anthony Albanese to essentially criticise the lack of short notice given by the Chinese. And the notice that was only given - as Judith Collins has explained there - to airlines within a couple of hours of the exercise getting underway.
"The defense minister has been a bit more forward leaning in Australia and also pointed out that the notice time was not enough, and also said that Beijing had not given a satisfactory explanation of what had been occurring in the Tasman Sea."
Greene said the timing of the exercise was significant, and likely to be "related to the new world order, the shifting strategic dynamics across the world", such as the actions of US President Donald Trump.
"The Australian government has repeatedly talked about the Trump administration being very focused on the Indo-Pacific. Well, here's a test of it right off the bat.
"The fact that Australia has been a regular observer of the South China Sea, has regularly deployed both warships and maritime surveillance air assets into those contested waters, has annoyed Beijing for a long time. A couple of weeks ago we saw yet another midair confrontation between the People's Liberation Army and the Royal Australian Air Force. Australia has protested strongly about the unsafe practice of the Chinese military, but now the Chinese military… really is able to demonstrate that it is a true-blue water navy that can deploy assets all the way south to the point where it's close to New Zealand.
"This is a significant demonstration and at this point in time when the Australian military is still working out the lay of the land under the new Trump administration. This is a reminder that Australia really needs to be able to demonstrate that it has a capable military - and that's still some way off."
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