Chinese Naval Task Force Makes Unusual Transit off Australia's East Coast

 

The naval forces of Australia and New Zealand are tracking a task force of three Chinese warships off the east coast of Australia, a rare long-distance patrol of PLA Navy forces. 

The Chinese task force includes the fleet oiler Weishanhu, the destroyer Zunyi and the frigate Hengyang.  transited through the Coral Sea and into waters off Australia's northeast coast last week. The frigate arrived separately, transiting the Torres Strait and passing off the coast of the Northern Territories before meeting up with Weishanhu. 

According to the FT, the Chinese task force approached about 150 nautical miles east of Sydney, within Australia's EEZ. It also spent time on the other side of the Tasman Sea, near New Zealand's shores, and Australia has been working closely with its neighbor to monitor the PLA Navy's movements. 

"We have not been informed by the Chinese government why this task group has been deployed into our region, and we have not been informed what its future plans are," New Zealand Defense Minister Judith Collins said. 

Zunyi is a Type 055 cruiser, newly commissioned in 2023. The 13,000-tonne Type 055 is China's largest and most advanced surface combatant, equipped with 112 VLS cells and an advanced AESA radar system. Hengyang is a Type 054A multirole frigate commissioned in 2008. She has 32 VLS cells for air defense missiles and antisubmarine missiles, plus separate deck launchers for another eight antiship missiles. 

"I've instructed that Navy and Air Force assets be deployed to make sure that we are watching exactly what the task group is doing. We'll do that in a manner that is safe and professional. That's very much our right," Australian deputy prime minister Richard Marles told media last week. He noted that the transit is unusual, but not unprecedented.

It is the latest in a long series of encounters between Chinese and Australian forces. On February 11, a Royal Australian Air Force P-8A maritime patrol aircraft was operating over the South China Sea when it experienced "an unsafe and unprofessional interaction" with a PLA Air Force fighter. The Chinese jet fired off flares near the Australian patrol plane, creating risk for the P-8A and its crew, Australia's defense department said.