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China doesn’t even need to “think” about apologising over the way it notified Australia about live-fire naval drills off the Australian coast, the country’s ambassador says.
Xiao Qian told the ABC the drills last Friday and Saturday posed “no threat” to Australia and were “a normal kind of practice for many navies in the world”.
He said the notification of the drills had followed normal international practice, despite Australian authorities first becoming aware of them after they began, from a passing Virgin pilot.
“There should be no over-reading into this,” the ambassador said, insisting Australia and China were “comprehensive strategic partners”.
A readout of the interview, published on the Chinese embassy website, said:
“The term ‘partner’ indicates that the two countries are friends, not foes or rivals. China has always regarded Australia as an important partner, and there is no need for Australia to feel concerned about the actions of the Chinese fleet.”
Australian defence officials told Senate estimates this week the first that Australia learned of the live-fire exercises, which took place 340 nautical miles off the NSW south coast, was when they were notified via a civilian pilot flying a Virgin commercial passenger jet near to the Chinese naval vessels.
The pilot heard a warning broadcast by the ships themselves that they were undertaking live-fire. That warning was relayed back to Australia, coming some time before a similar notification from a New Zealand navy vessel that was shadowing the flotilla. After the warning came through, commercial flights were re-routed mid-flight around the drills.
On Friday morning, the Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said the vessels were now 593km south-west of Adelaide, “just outside, near the border of our exclusive economic zone.”
“They are being shadowed by the Anzac frigate, HMAS Stuart: these Chinese vessels have been monitored and shadowed by Australian or New Zealand the entire time they have been off the coast,” he told reporters.
Albanese said his government disagreed with China on the warnings given ahead of the drills.
“We believe it was appropriate to have been given more notice and we made that clear last Friday,” he said
He acknowledged that they were acting within international law, but added “we’ve made it very clear that we expect more notice to have been given and we have protested”.
Xiao, in his interview, insisted there had been appropriate notice given ahead of the live-fire drills on Friday and Saturday, and rejected Australia’s assertion that there was inadequate notice.
“Different countries have a different practice and, based on the nature of the drill, size of the drill and the scope of the drill, my view is that the Chinese naval certification advice was appropriate.”
He said international law was silent about the precise timing and nature of advance warning on naval exercises.
“I don’t see there’s any reason why the Chinese side should feel sorry about that, or even to think about to apologise for that,” he said.
Both China and Australia confirmed this week that the Chinese naval drills were conducted in international waters and in accordance with international law.
A three-ship flotilla – comprising the Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the Renhai-class cruiser Zunyi and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu – sailed from Australia’s north down the east coast – reportedly sailing as close as 150nm from Sydney – before undertaking live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea on Friday and Saturday.
The ships – which are possibly accompanied by an undetected nuclear submarine, Australia’s defence chief has said – have since sailed farther south and west and entered the Great Australian Bight.
Australia’s defence minister, Richard Marles, has urged calm, saying “it’s really important that we take a deep breath here”. He emphasised the Chinese ships’ adherence to international law, and pointed out the frequency of Australian navy ships sailing close to China’s shores – including through the contested South China Sea.
“There is actually a greater frequency of Australian naval vessels closer to China than there are Chinese vessels close to Australia,” he said.
Labor minister Murray Watt said on Friday morning Australia was “not happy that China did not give advance warning” of the live-fire drills.
“The bottom line is that China should have given us more notice.”
Xiao insisted China did not “pose a threat to Australia”, saying the countries were, and would remain, “comprehensive strategic partners”.
In the interview readout posted online, the Chinese ambassador rejected any link between the naval flotilla sailing down Australia’s east coast and an incident between Australian and Chinese aircraft over the South China Sea earlier this month.
On 11 February, a Chinese PLA-AF J-16 fighter aircraft released flares near an Australian P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft as it was flying what Australia has said was a “routine maritime surveillance patrol in the South China Sea”.
Australia described it as “an unsafe and unprofessional manoeuvre”.
Xiao said the air and sea matters were “entirely different in nature”, and blamed Australia for the air incident.
“The Australian military aircraft intruded into China’s airspace, which is a serious violation of international law and undermines China’s national security. However, the Chinese naval exercise took place in high seas far from Australia’s coastline and aligns with international law.”
