Flights diverted

Alarm over China’s ships off Australia

The Philippine military is keeping a very close eye on events off its own coast.

(Bild: AFP)

Three Chinese warships are causing unrest off the east coast of Australia. The presence of the ships, which have been conducting military exercises for days, is already forcing international airlines to change their routes. Particularly explosive: the fleet was spotted just 278 kilometers east of Sydney - a maneuver that is further testing the already tense relations between Canberra and Beijing.

China has been conducting military exercises off the east coast for days. It is unclear what Beijing's intention is - but the deployment is already having an impact on air traffic: the government company Airservices Australia, which is responsible for flight safety, has issued a notice to pilots in the region, reported the ABC. As a result, several international flights changed course.

Military ships not far from Sydney
The ships - a frigate, a cruiser and a supply ship - were discovered off the coast last week. According to the British newspaper "Financial Times", they were last sighted just 150 nautical miles (278 kilometers) east of Sydney. The Chinese military has not yet commented on the matter.

When asked about the media report during the week, the Chinese foreign office stated that it knew nothing about the circumstances. However, when asked about the media reports on Friday, the foreign office in Beijing explained that the People's Liberation Army organizes exercises on the open sea. Such exercises are always held in a safe, standardized and professional manner in accordance with international laws, said spokesman Guo Jiakun in Beijing.

Fire drills a danger for aircraft
ABC quoted official sources as saying that one of the ships had carried out firing exercises that posed a danger to aircraft. "We are keeping a close eye on them," Defense Minister Richard Marles told Sky News on Thursday. The New Zealand military is supporting the neighboring country in this.

However, Marles also explained that China has so far acted "in accordance with international law" and has not invaded Australia's territorial waters. "They have the right to be where they are." But Australia also has the right to be prudent.

Payback from China?
Only last week, China had accused Australia of intruding into its airspace with a military aircraft. Australia's Ministry of Defense rejected the accusations and stated that the aircraft had flown in international airspace over the South China Sea. According to Australian reports, a Chinese fighter jet subsequently dropped so-called decoys in the vicinity of the aircraft as a countermeasure to divert attention.

Tensions in the South China Sea
China has one of the largest navies in the world. The ruling Communist Party in Beijing has been investing in the development of new ships for years. The People's Liberation Army exercises almost daily around Taiwan, which China counts as part of its territory, although the island has considered itself an independent country for decades and has its own government.

The South China Sea, where the coast guards of China and the Philippines clash time and again, is also a regular scene. China claims most of the resource-rich region, in which the Philippines' exclusive economic zone is located, for itself, thus contradicting the ruling of an arbitration tribunal in the matter.