China

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/30359557

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China has informed the Australian government to expect more visits from its warships amid the ongoing political standoff between Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and China.

The situation follows live-fire exercises conducted by a People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) taskforce in the Tasman Sea just over a week ago.

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Both New Zealand and Australia condemn the live-fire exercises held on 21-22 February.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Defence Minister Judith Collins maintain that Wellington had no prior knowledge of the Chinese military operation.

Collins expresses disappointment over Beijing’s failure to inform Wellington about the arrival of a “highly capable” strike force with considerable firepower along Australia’s east coast.

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Luxon and Collins’ Australian counterparts, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Defence Minister Richard Marles, also criticise China for not providing “sufficient notice” on the live-fire exercise in the Tasman Sea.

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The live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea follow another incident in which a Chinese Air Force J-16 fighter jet releases flares 30 metres from an Australian P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft in the South China Sea.

Australia’s Department of Defence criticises the interaction as “unsafe and unprofessional”.

The flare release, reported on 13 February, is the fifth known incident of unsafe behaviour by the Chinese military towards the Australian Defence Force since 2022.

Analysts warn that these military interactions with China are now becoming increasingly routine.

Reports by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute reveal that China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea and beyond make it much harder for the Albanese government to stabilise its relationship with Beijing, particularly under its strategy of ‘cooperate where we can, disagree where we must, and engage in the national interest’.

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