Navy to ignore China demand, says Andrew Hastie
Australian navy ships will ignore China’s demand that all vessels entering its disputed ‘territorial waters’ notify Chinese authorities, Andrew Hastie has declared.
Australian navy ships will ignore China’s demand that all vessels entering its disputed “territorial waters” notify Chinese authorities of their presence, Assistant Defence Minister Andrew Hastie has declared.
Beijing introduced the regulation last month for vessels travelling within its unilaterally-imposed “nine dash line” in the South China Sea, requiring them to “report their detailed information upon their visits”. But Mr Hastie said Australian Defence Force craft would not alter their behaviour in the international waters of the South China Sea.
“ADF vessels and aircraft will continue to exercise their rights under international law to freedom of navigation and overflight, including in the South China Sea, and we support others doing the same,” he told the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia. “This is what we mean about upholding the rules-based global order, which has been underwritten by US naval power since the end of the Second World War. It is why, in the wake of Afghanistan, it is so important that we do get the US refocused on the Indo-Pacific region.”
Mr Hastie said navy vessels had undertaken six South China Sea transits this year.
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