Three Chinese PLA Navy warships have been sailing for weeks near Australia and New Zealand, in a situation both governments are closely monitoring. The Australian Navy has been monitoring the PLA movements by deploying their own vessels to at times shadow.
The movement is being widely described in regional media as an unprecedented circumnavigation of Australia by the PLA Navy.
As of Thursday, Australia's military had monitored the flotilla's movement some 630 nautical miles (1,166km) northwest of Perth, and soon the warships are expected to transit the Sunda Strait, to reenter the South China Sea.
Led by the PLA's Type 055 destroyer Zunyi, the group also includes the Type 054A frigate named Hengyang and a Type 903 replenishment vessel, Weishanhu.
The South China Morning Post suggests this is a message aimed at Washington as well, given the Chinese warships are sailing in the vicinity of a base which is currently hosting a US submarine. The report indicates:
The warships’ passage near Perth comes amid continued cooperation between Australia and the US under the Aukus defence pact. The US Navy’s attack submarine USS Minnesota has been docked at HMAS Stirling naval base since last month, likely for nuclear submarine training and operational coordination between the two allies.
Aukus, a trilateral security alliance between Australia, Britain and the US, was established in September 2021 and will equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. The pact is framed as a measure to strengthen deterrence and promote a “free and open Indo-Pacific”.
SCMP continues, "The Chinese deployment marks one of the most significant PLA Navy operations near Australian waters, with the warships sailing closer to the country’s shores than before."
Last month the flotilla came just 150 nautical miles east of Sydney. The Australian navy has responded by sending its own warships to shadow and monitor the Chinese PLA Navy ships. They include three ships total: a Chinese frigate, a cruiser and a supply tanker.
"We are keeping a close watch on them, and we will make sure we are watching every move," Australia’s Defense Minister Richard Marles recently said.
"It’s not unprecedented. But it is an unusual event," Marles said, but still stipulated that the vessels are "not a threat" at this point as they are "engaging in accordance with international law."
"And just as they have a right to be in international waters, which is what they are doing, we have a right to be prudent and to make sure that we are surveilling them, which is what we are doing," he added.