New Zealand is aware of a Chinese naval task group sailing in international waters off Australia and is monitoring it, says Defence Minister Judith Collins.
The Australian Defence Department said the Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the Renhai-class Cruiser named Zunyi and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu have continued sailing down the coast after being spotted to the north east of the country last week, the ABC reported.
British newspaper the Financial Times reported around 12 hours ago the ships were around 150 nautical miles (277km) east of Sydney.
Collins said the New Zealand Defence Force is monitoring the group, in coordination with Australia.
“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.
“We will continue to monitor these vessels.”
Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles told Sky News the ships were “not doing anything contrary to international law”. It was an unusual event, but not unprecedented, he said.
A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said they were unable to answer questions about the ships, saying he was unfamiliar with the situation, the ABC reported.
