Peter Dutton confirms a Chinese warship is off the coast of Western Australia
A Chinese warship has been seen lurking near Australian waters “collecting intelligence”, as relations between the two countries become a major election issue.
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A Chinese warship has been identified off the coast of Western Australia a week out from election day - a move Defence Minsiter Peter Dutton called “unusual” and “aggressive”.
The vessel was detected near Exmouth, where a joint Australian and United States naval intelligence station - Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt - is based.
The ship has since begun travelling north up the coast.
Its timing is considered concerning as Australia is only eight days from the federal election and national security and the rise of China has been a major issue of the campaign.
Chinese vessels are legally entitled to pass through shared waters, as is Australia able to monitor those ships.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton told a Perth news conference the path of the warship was “very concerning” and he called it an “aggressive act”.
He said it will be gathering as much intelligence information as it can.
“We are monitoring it very closely...We have a number of aircraft surveilling this particular warship.
“It is a Chinese warship with intelligence gathering capability. It is obviously very strange that it has come this far south and it is hugging the coastline as it goes north, and its intention will be to collect as much electronic intelligence as it can, and, as I say, that is unusual. We haven’t seen a ship from that maybe come this far south and is tracking up towards Darwin at the moment,” Mr Dutton said.
The Chinese had ignored an international protocol which would normally include the contacting Australian authorities.
“That hasn’t happened and they will continue to do what they believe is in the best interests... But it is best that people are made fully aware of what is a very unusual path and course that they have taken.
“Again, it is strange timing and without precedent that this vessel would come so far south and that it is tracking essentially hugging the coastline, heading up in the direction of Darwin, is not a usual practice, and we are monitoring it very closely.
“I think people understand the difficulty, the reality of the Indo-Pacific at the moment, the acts of aggression from the Chinese leadership and from the Chinese government. I think Australians deserve to know what is taking place and, as I say, it is a repeat of a previous practice where we have made the public aware of these activities before...I think it’s an aggressive act.”
Mr Dutton said he wanted a better relationship with China.
“I want to normalise relationship with China, like anyone. I don’t want to see them continue down the part of aggression,” he said.
He denied he was revealing the warship now to help the Coalition’s election chances - but then insisted the Coalition was better placed to protect Australians than Labor.
“It continues the practice that we have had before of making the public aware of the activities of these vessels and people understand the difficulty that is the reality of the Indo-Pacific at the moment.
“Where we see acts of aggression in our own region we are right to speak out about it. We are standing up for our values. We are not going to compromise on our democracy. I want a normalised relationship with China like anyone.
“I don’t want to see them continue down the path of aggression. But if we believe that by saying nothing and by pretending that nothing is happening, I don’t believe the problem will solve itself.
“I don’t think anyone has learnt the lessons of history.”
PM: NO BREACH OF OUR BORDER
Mr Morrison stressed there had not been a breach of Australia’s territorial borders by the Chinese ship.
“The first thing I want to make very clear is this is freedom of navigation,” Mr Morrison said.
“I mean they are able to be in these places, they’re not in our contiguous zone, they’re not in Australian waters or anything like that.
“But it is unusual for a PLA navy (boat) to come this far south near Exmouth and to be tracking where they’re tracking.us
“It is clearly a ship that is an intelligence gathering chip, they’re looking at us and we’re keeping a close eye on them and that’s what we also do.”
Mr Morrison said the event had highlighted the “serious times in which we are living”.
“So when you look at this event in the context of the many other acts that the Chinese government has undertaken towards Australia then that is obviously concerning.
“ And it only continues to highlight why it is so important, of course, we remain calm about these matters, and that we continue to remain confident in the ability of our defence forces and our surveillance capabilities.”
Earlier this year the Australian Defence Force confirmed a laser was shone at an Australian surveillance aircraft by a People’s Liberation Army navy (PLAN) warship.
The February incident was condemned by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who branded it as “dangerous, unprofessional and reckless for a professional navy”.
ADF officials also said it was a “serious” incident.
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