China accuses Australia of ‘hyping up’ live fire drills in the South China Sea
Chinese defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian on Sunday said the PLA had sent repeated safety notices before the drills and that his country was ‘strongly dissatisfied’ with Australia’s response.
China has accused Australia of having “hyped up” its live-fire exercises in international waters between Australia and New Zealand, as Tony Abbott warns Beijing’s naval actions are a sign of things to come if we become an “economic colony” of the Asian superpower.
The ex-Liberal leader also called on the nation to step up its defence, trade and intelligence ties with Britain, Canada and New Zealand to be taken more seriously in the US.
On Saturday, Chinese warships notified they would conduct live-fire exercises for the second time in as many days between Australia and New Zealand waters again with a radio broadcast notice instead of higher-level communication.
Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian on Sunday said the People’s Liberation Army had sent repeated safety notices before the drills and that his country was “strongly dissatisfied” with Australia’s response.
“China’s actions are in full compliance with international law and international practices, and will not affect aviation flight safety,” Mr Wu said in a statement.
“Australia, knowing this well, made unreasonable accusations against China and deliberately hyped it up. We are deeply surprised and strongly dissatisfied with this.”
Liu Xiaobo, director of the Marine Study Centre at Beijing think tank the Grandview Institution, said the PLA navy flotilla’s trip was intended to send a political message to Canberra.
“The move is in response to Australia’s activities in the South China Sea, including its joint drills with The Philippines, the US and Japan,” Mr Liu, a former PLA navy officer, told The Australian.
Mr Abbott over the weekend suggested Australia, the UK, Canada and New Zealand should “become much better” at offering the US help “rather than rail against the only leader the free world currently has” following China’s posturing.
“Of course, there is an alternative to renewing alliances built on a shared history and values cherished in common,” he told the Danube Institute forum in London. “Australia could opt to become an economic colony of China. But in that event, our paymasters in Beijing would hardly allow us a freedom that their own people lack.
“As last week’s live-fire exercise off our coast shows, Beijing’s expectation is that its clients ‘tremble and obey’. Soon enough, we would find that without strength, neither peace nor freedom lasts very long.”
The ex-prime minister also said liberal democracies needed to embrace national service. “Some form of national service, if only to remind young people that citizenship is a two-way street, needs to get under way,” he said.
A Defence spokesman said the group of three Chinese warships – a frigate, a cruiser, and a replenishment vessel – “continues to conduct activities in accordance with international laws”.
“Defence continues to monitor the (three-vessel) task group while it remains in the vicinity of Australia’s maritime approaches, and is co-ordinating closely with the New Zealand Defence Force.”
The Albanese government lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing and Foreign Minister Penny Wong met with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa to raise the matter.
“China’s strategic priority is not to strengthen its military presence around Australia, but to reduce military activities of Australia in China’s coastal waters, specifically in the South China Sea,” he told The Australian. “The move is for political purposes, not for military purposes. It is aimed at China’s surrounding areas, not at Australia’s surrounding areas,” he said.
Many nationalist commentators in China applauded the PLA’s show of strength.
“This naval exercise in the distant seas has sent a clear signal. I believe that the Australian military will be quiet in the South China Sea for a while in the future,” said a popular account called Australian Observer.
There was also much mocking on China’s internet of Senator Wong’s wide smile as she met with Mr Wang. An account of the meeting released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry did not mention the PLA’s recent encounters with Australia, but did include a swipe at the Trump administration.
“Major countries in particular should show exemplary responsibility, resolutely oppose ‘reversing history’ and resist returning to the ‘law of the jungle’,” Mr Wang told Senator Wong, according to Beijing’s account of the meeting.
Responding on Sunday to Coalition criticism that Anthony Albanese and Defence Minister Richard Marles had “refused to stand up for our ADF personnel” in the face of Beijing’s “gunboat diplomacy”, Health Minister Mark Butler accused the Coalition of “student politics”.
“I see the opposition using a bit of loudhailer diplomacy again here for domestic political purposes, presumably because they haven’t actually put a suggestion about what alternatively we should be doing,” Mr Butler told Sky News.
Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie fired back at Mr Butler.
“This is geopolitics – not the university campus – and the problem is that we have weak, former student politicians running the country,” Mr Hastie said.
“The Chinese government know most of the Albanese government don’t understand the real world, down range, where hard power matters.
“That’s why they are testing the Albanese government and they are exposing weakness.”
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