China's naval exercise in the Tasman Sea has put Australia and New Zealand on alert, with Canberra calling it "unusual".

Planes flying between Australia and New Zealand have been diverted as China conducts a closely-scrutinised military exercise in nearby waters that may involve live fire.

The rare presence of three Chinese naval ships in the Tasman Sea has put both antipodean countries on alert in recent days, with Australia calling it “unusual”.

Australian airline Qantas told the BBC it “temporarily adjusted” the routes of its planes and other carriers have reportedly done the same.

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Australia and New Zealand have been closely monitoring the Chinese fleet - a frigate, a cruiser and a supply tanker - since last week, and have dispatched their own ships to observe them.

Earlier this week, New Zealand’s Defence Minister Judith Collins said China had not informed them they would be sending warships to their region and “have not deigned to advise us on what they are doing in the Tasman Sea”, according to the New Zealand Herald.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles said that the ships’ presence was “not unprecedented, but it is an unusual event”.

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The drill comes just days after Australia and China held a defence dialogue in Beijing where they had discussed military transparency and communication, among other things.

The two countries have seen several recent tense maritime encounters.

Earlier this month, Canberra said a Chinese fighter jet had released flares in front of an Australian military aircraft while flying over the South China Sea. Beijing said the aircraft had “intentionally intruded” into its airspace.

In May last year, Australia accused a Chinese fighter plane of dropping flares close to an Australian navy helicopter that was part of a UN Security Council mission on the Yellow Sea.

And in November 2023, Canberra accused Beijing’s navy of using sonar pulses in international waters off Japan, resulting in Australian divers suffering injuries.

  • eureka@aussie.zoneMEnglish
    0·
    11 hours ago

    and no one in the rest of the world respects them

    That’s a bit near-sighted. Their regional neighbours obviously aren’t happy about them, nor 5EYES states like Australia, but to other regions like Africa and the Middle-East, their long-time bullies are countries such as the US, Britain and France (and in many cases that’s not just pushing boundaries, but a full-on military occupation and colonisation), so China’s relatively-peaceful diplomacy there in contrast to IMF economic strategies has certainly won wide respect there, and I suspect the USA’s recent diplomatic suicide, destruction of USAID and other forms of ‘turning inward’ will make China more appealing to distant countries as a stable and (in their eyes) relatively friendly partner.

    About half the world (the Global South) generally sides politically with them more than the West, so this isn’t just nitpicking. The bottom line is that with three main powers to choose from, China (despite their rudeness in our region) is the one which has hurt the least of them.

    This quote from a US DARPA medicine worker gives a typical example of how distant countries perceive Western and Eastern powers:

    When you were on the ground, how did our engagement in Africa stack up with Chinese and Russian engagement? Did you cross paths?

    Yeah. There’s an example of where we were waiting to go in to meet with an African delegation. I won’t name the country, but our team was prepared to speak in French — we had translators. And we got half an hour with the delegation from their Ministry of Health. We walked out, and the Chinese delegation came in, but they went to the effort of not only knowing French, but also knowing a local language that none of us had ever heard, and they spoke in that language to their hosts. We were ushered out. The Chinese stayed for three hours.

    They had developed a deeper relationship than we had, mainly because they were outspending us. Obviously, they built the African CDC and have made some major investments in Africa. Now, are we losing that diplomatic battle? It’s hard to say, but I can tell you that they’re putting an enormous amount of funding into Africa to develop as much credibility as they can on the infectious disease and clinical front, furthering the agenda that President Xi has laid out.

    • Gorgritch_Umie_Killa@aussie.zone
      0·
      10 hours ago

      Wow, that quote is insane.

      I often wonder if our future selves will look back at the way the West has operated over this uni-polar moment and realise we have been quite cavalier and imperious in our behaviours towards others. In a geopolitical way, i mean.