quote:

Arare Chinese naval drill with a previously unannounced live-fire component has disrupted air traffic over and around the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. Authorities in Australia say they only learned that the Chinese ships would be firing some of their weapons after the crews of commercial airliners flying overhead received alerts. In addition to the signals this particular incident sends, the general presence of the flotilla in the region underscores the increasing reach of a steadily larger and more capable People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) beyond China’s own shores.

The PLAN’s Type 055 destroyer Zunyi, Type 054A frigate Hengyang, and Type 903 replenishment ship Weishanhu have been sailing south in international waters to the east of Australia since at least last week. Often referred to as a cruiser given its size, the Type 055 is one of the most modern and capable warships in Chinese service today. Elements of the Australian and New Zealand armed forces, including warships and P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol planes, have been shadowing their movements.

“We weren’t notified by China, we became aware of the issue during the course of the day,” Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said while speaking to ABC Radio Perth earlier today. “What China did was put out a notification that it was intending to engage in live fire, and by that I mean a broadcast that was picked up by airlines, literally commercial planes that were flying across the Tasman.”

“I can understand why this was probably … very disconcerting for the airlines,” Marles added, stressing that Australia typically gives 12 to 24 hours notice ahead of live-fire exercises.

Based on information in alerts shared via the international Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), the Chinese drills occurred in an area roughly 400 miles (340 nautical miles) to the southeast of the Australian city of Sydney. An Emirates flight heading from Sydney in Australia to New Zealand’s Christchurch was reportedly directly hailed by the Chinese flotilla warning the aircraft to stay at least 19 nautical miles away from where they were operating. Qantas and Air New Zealand have now made changes to the routes their planes take over and around the Tasman Sea, and other airlines have reportedly done the same. Civilian aviation authorities in Australia have now issued formal “advice” regarding air traffic around where the Chinese ships are operating.
....

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
China has already been flexing their muscles against the Philippines which has a mutual defense treaty with the US and has had minimal reaction from the US. NZ and Australia are a lot farther from China than the Philippines.

quote:

Argentina is carrying out naval patrols in a warning to the hundreds of foreign fishing vessels lingering just beyond the nation's maritime zone.

Newsweek reached out to Argentina's Defense Ministry and China's Foreign Ministry by email with requests for comment.

With local fish stocks dwindling, China's distant-water fishing fleet—by far the world's largest—has rapidly expanded in recent decades and, by 2020, numbered around 17,000 vessels, according to the London-based Overseas Development Institute; this figure is widely considered a low estimate given the common practice of operating under foreign flags.

These vessels are frequently accused of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and depleting marine resources in developing nations like Argentina, home to the world's second-largest squid fishery. Beijing has rejected these criticisms, claiming it enforces the world's strictest oversight of its distant-water fishing fleet.

....