Chinese ambassador dodges questions about live firing exercises in Tasman Sea

Saturday, 22 February 2025

The Chinese ambassador to New Zealand has dodged questions about China’s live firing exercises in the Tasman Sea.

China conducted a second live firing exercise from a warship near Australia on Saturday afternoon.

Defence Minister Judith Collins’ office confirmed the Chinese naval task force notified the Defence Force of the exercise on earlier on Saturday, following similar activity on Friday which saw disruption to commercial flights in the area.

“We have had confirmation that personnel on Navy frigate HMNZS Te Kaha observed live rounds being fired from the Zunyi’s main gun, as would be expected during the course of such an exercise.”

Stuff asked Chinese ambassador Dr Wang Xiaolong about the warships at the Wellington Lantern Festival on Saturday evening.

“Today is a moment for celebration,” he said. “I think you’ve asked the wrong question today.”

“Why is New Zealand warships near the coast of China?” he further responded.

The warship had advised of the activity via radio, Collins’ office said.

“Defence is working with the NZ Civil Aviation Authority to ensure all aircraft are notified. The safety of all people, aircraft and vessels in the area remains our paramount concern.”

“Our concerns regarding notification times and best practice when undertaking military exercises stand, and will be communicated appropriately.”

The Australian government has issued a ‘please explain’ to the Chinese after it failed to answer for its lack of notice, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

Luxon says warships group is ‘something different’

Earlier Saturday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the Government “haven't actually been informed by the Chinese government as to why this task group is here”.

He said the China warships conducting exercises in the Tasman Sea region were believed to be about 350 nautical miles northeast of the Bass Strait, that separates Tasmania from mainland Australia.

Luxon confirmed the Defence Force monitoring of the frigate Hengyang, cruiser Zunyi, and replenishment ship Weishanhu that caused disruption to commercial passenger flights on Friday night due to activity believed to be live fire exercises.

“What we are seeing is something very different here, with the configuration of a cruiser, and a frigate, and a refueller, obviously, and that is different from what we've seen before, where we may have seen research vessels in and around our waters, but we do what we will do, which is to monitor very, very closely,” Luxon said.

“We haven't been given a reason as to why they're here in this configuration with this set of ships, with these different set of capabilities, and we don't really have a sense of, you know, we haven’t been told where they're going and why.”

The HMNZS Te Kaha frigate was monitoring with support from P-8A Poseidon aircraft, and on Friday were believed to have observed behaviour “consistent with live fire activity”.

The NZ crew did not report observing any fires on a floating target, and said there was no indication of any surface-to-air firing, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The New Zealand Defence Force vessel had monitored the Chinese ships deploying and recovering a floating target, they said.

Luxon said the Chinese naval group were “operating well within the balance of international law, following the conventions from the UN those are the same conventions, the same laws that we uphold and expect to be upheld for us when we are moving around the world as well”.

Luxon said the events reflected growing “geo-strategic competition” in the region.

“Well, I just would say to all New Zealanders, I think they have observed, over a number of years, I have been saying it's an increasing geopolitical, geopolitically competitive part of the world, the Pacific.

“That is what you're seeing here. And our prosperity is very strongly linked to our security. That's why I've also said we will absolutely need to increase our defence spending as well,” Luxon said.

He said he had been in conversation with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and the joint monitoring operation was effective.

“We have been continuously monitoring and shadowing and tracking the movements of this fleet, in conjunction with our Australian friends and partners, and we continue to do so.”

On Friday, Defence Minister Judith Collins said the Zunyi was a “formidable” ship, and the presence of the vessels was a “wake-up call”.

“New Zealanders have been told for years by the political classes that they can just rest easy, do nothing on defence, and expect that our distance from much of the world will protect us,” she said.

The proximity of the navy ships, along with a Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile test last year, were “not something we have seen before”, she told Stuff on Friday.

Was warning given for the first Chinese naval live fire exercise?

Defence sources for the Sydney Morning Herald said the Chinese military informed Australian authorities on Friday it would be conducting live fire exercises later that day, prompting the speedy establishment of an 18km airspace protection zone up to a height of 45,000 feet.

The sources said the Australian navy would give 24 to 48 hours’ notice of similar exercises and would avoid areas with significant commercial air and sea travel.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, responding to a question on Australia’s concerns at a daily press briefing, said the drill was carried out “in a safe, standard and professional manner in accordance with relevant international law and international practice”.

Flights affected out of Sydney

Up to three commercial aircraft were diverted from their planned routes because of the ships’ activity on Friday.

Qantas said both it and budget offshoot Jetstar temporarily adjusted some flights across the Tasman after receiving warnings of the drills, adding that it was working with the Australian government and broader industry to monitor the situation.

Virgin and Emirates flights to New Zealand also received warnings about the exercises.

Flight tracking data showed Qantas flight QF121 deviated from its flight path less than an hour into its journey over the Tasman from Sydney to Queenstown late on Friday morning, as did Emirates flight EK412 from Sydney to Christchurch.

Qantas would not confirm whether QF121’s deviation was due to the risk posed by the Chinese warships’ live fire exercise.