Australian Navy warns Chinese spy ships and subs to stay out of way

The Royal Australian Navy has issued a stark warning to China ahead of one of the world’s largest naval exercises.

China has been warned not to recklessly interfere with one of the world’s largest naval exercises after the super power was not invited to participate but expected to dispatch its spy warships and submarines to shadow operations.

Royal Australian Navy Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Mark Hammond said Exercise Kakadu 22 (KA22), to be held in international seas but within Australia’s exclusive economic zone from next Monday, was a significant event involving 22 nations.

But unlike previous iterations, this year’s will not involve China due to fractious relationship between governments.

FCO Fred Daves tracks “enemy” on-board HMAS Stuart during Kakadu 18. Picture: Keri Megelus

In a frank assessment, VADM Hammond said however he expected China’s PLA Navy to show up in some form outside the immediate parameters of the exercise, which will include live fire, and cautioned against getting in the way.

“My number one priority as you would expect is the safety and wellbeing of our people so if there was reckless behaviour you would expect me to be quite agitated and I would be,” he said.

“But at the moment we’ve been observing this behaviour for six or seven years and it has not escalated and that gives me some confidence that there is a degree of status quo around what they are doing at the moment. We don’t assume it will always be like this but at the moment it doesn’t seem to be trending in a more negative direction.”

China‘s People’s Liberation Army Navy vessel Haiwangxing, a Dongdiao Class auxiliary intelligence ship, sailing off the northwest shelf of Australia. Picture: ADF

VADM Hammond said the exercise was all about “partnership, leadership and friendship” and cited the Ukraine conflict – a nation helped by the West against a superpower Russia – as reinforcing the importance of those principles.

He confirmed he had no comms with his Chinese counterparts and described their behaviour of recent times as odd, particularly as RAN warships pass through South China Sea international waters.

“We have been transiting through and across the region for over 100 years, what has changed in the last few years is the behaviour of the Chinese forces in that region,” he said.

“Interactions between our ships have been professional and safe and routinely when we have ships there, there has been a PLA navy vessel within sight quite often following us around, it’s quite unusual. That’s unusual behaviour, I don’t know any other navy that does that. It’s a departure from what we would call normal maritime behaviour (but) it hasn’t stopped us from conducting (exercises).”

Soldiers of the navy of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People‘s Liberation Army (PLA) conduct operations during joint combat exercises and training around the Taiwan Island, Aug. 6, 2022. Picture: AFP

K22 will involve more than 3000 personnel including from Army and the RAAF which will have 34 aircraft in support of the international fleet including navies from as far afield as Germany, Chile, Pakistan, the US, UK, India and United Arab Emirates.

The Solomon Islands will also be involved, notable since relations with Australia over China have also been strained.

“Exercise Kakadu provides an excellent opportunity for regional partners to undertake multinational maritime activities ranging from constabulary operations to high-end maritime warfare in a combined environment,” Commander of the Australian Fleet Rear Admiral Jonathan Earley said.