Australia says watching ‘every move’ of Chinese warships off Sydney’s coast

Australia is closely monitoring a Chinese navy task group in the country’s exclusive economic zone off its east coast but the ships did not pose any threats as they had not breached any maritime laws, Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Thursday.

A PLA Navy frigate, cruiser and replenishment vessel had last week entered Australia’s maritime approaches with the frigate transiting the Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea.

It has since moved south, sailing within 150 nautical miles (240km) off the coast of Sydney, the Financial Times reported. A defence department statement did not mention the location.

“We are keeping a close watch on them and we will be making sure that we watch every move,” Marles told Sky News.

“And whenever this mission is over on the part of the Chinese task group, we will assess everything we have seen to make a proper assessment of exactly what they were trying to achieve through this mission.”

Australia’s air force and navy were monitoring the ships, he said.