澳洲和紐西蘭軍方正在監視澳洲附近的 3 艘中國軍艦 (1/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

The Australian and New Zealand militaries are monitoring 3 Chinese warships off Australia (1/2)

The Associated Press - Rod Mcguirk

Wed, February 19, 2025 at 9:31 p.m. PST·4 min read

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Australian and New Zealand militaries were monitoring three Chinese warships moving unusually far south along Australia’s east coast on an unknown mission, officials said Thursday.

The Australian government revealed a week ago that the warships had traveled through Southeast Asia and the Coral Sea and were approaching northeast Australia.

Defense Minister Richard Marles said Thursday that the Chinese ships — the naval frigate Hengyang, cruiser Zunyi and replenishment vessel Weishanhu — were “off the east coast of Australia.”

Defense officials did not respond to a request for comment on a Financial Times report that the task group from China's military, the People's Liberation Army, was 150 nautical miles (278 kilometers) east of Sydney.

“There is no doubt that this is, not unprecedented, but an unusual event,” Marles told Sky News television.

Australia says Chinese warships entitled to deploy off Australian coast

Marles said Australian navy ships and air force planes were monitoring the Chinese ships’ movements through international waters that are in Australia's exclusive economic zone, the area beyond its territorial waters where a nation has exclusive economic rights.

“They’re entitled to be where they are; Australia is also entitled to be prudent and we are monitoring very closely what the activities of the task group are,” Marles told reporters.

“What we will do whenever this mission is over on the part of the Chinese task group is engage in a full assessment of what the Chinese were seeking to achieve in respect of this mission,” he added.

In Beijing, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun was asked at a media briefing on Wednesday about the Chinese warships' location and replied he was not aware of the situation. The Chinese Embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Australia engages with Papua New Guinea and New Zealand over Chinese warships

Marles said Australia had engaged with its nearest neighbor Papua New Guinea over its response because the Chinese had traveled around the South Pacific Island nation’s coast on their way to Australia’s exclusive economic zone.

Australia was also “working very closely” with New Zealand, which is separated from the Australian east coast by the Tasman Sea, he said.

(to be continued)

Translation

澳洲和紐西蘭軍方正在監視澳洲附近的 3 艘中國軍艦 (1/2)

墨爾本，澳大利亞（美聯社）- 官員週四表示，澳大利亞和新西蘭軍方正在監視三艘中國軍艦，它們沿著澳大利亞東海岸異常地向遙遠的南方航行，執行一項不明任務。

澳洲政府一週前透露，這些軍艦已穿越東南亞和珊瑚海，正接近澳洲東北部。

國防部長 Richard Marles 週四表示，中國艦艇 - 海軍護衛艦衡陽號、巡洋艦遵義號和補給艦微山湖號 - 「位於澳洲東海岸附近」。

《金融時報》報道稱，中國人民解放軍的編隊位於雪梨以東 150 海裡（278 公里）處，國防官員沒有回應對此發表評論的請求。

Marles 在接受天空新聞電視台採訪時表示： “毫無疑問，這並非史無前例，但卻是一次不尋常的事件。”

澳洲稱中國軍艦有權在澳洲海岸附近部署

Marles表示，澳大利亞海軍艦艇和空軍飛機正在監測中國船隻在澳大利亞專屬經濟區的國際水域內的動態，該區域位於其領海之外，澳在此擁有專屬經濟權利。

Marles 告訴記者: 「他們有權待在他們所在的地方；澳洲也有權保持謹慎，我們正在密切監視該工作特遣組的活動」。

他補充說： “在中國特遣組的任務結束後，我們將進行全面評估中方在這次任務中尋求實現的目標。”

中國外交部發言人 Guo Jiakun 週三在北京的記者會上被問及中國軍艦的位置，他回答說他不了解有關情況。中國駐澳洲大使館週四沒有立即回應置評請求。

澳洲與巴布亞紐幾內亞和紐西蘭就中國軍艦問題作出積極交流

 Marles 表示，澳洲已與其近鄰巴布亞新畿內亞就其反應作出積極交流，因為中國軍艦在前往澳洲專屬經濟區的途中繞過了這個南太平洋島國的海岸。

他說，澳洲也與紐西蘭 “密切合作” ，紐西蘭與澳洲東岸之間隔著塔斯曼海。

（待續）