NZ wasn't ‘angry’ about Chinese flotilla in Tasman Sea, says defence minister
Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Defence Minister Chris Penk says New Zealand wasn’t “angry” about a flotilla of Chinese warships conducting live-firing exercises in the Tasman Sea, but was “interested” and “anxious”.
Three warships belonging to the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) showed up ‒ unannounced ‒ northeast of Australia in early February, sailing through the Torres Strait before heading south into the Tasman Sea.
While the activity was within the bounds of international law, defence experts described it as “unprecedented” and “pretty extraordinary”.
Australia and New Zealand worked closely together to track the flotilla, giving daily updates on its movements.
Read more:
New Zealand’s public commentary was restrained at the time ‒ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon noting the activity was “different from what we have observed before” and advance notice would have been appreciated.
The ABC has now reported Australia's incoming Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Mark Hammond told his defence sector that China’s naval flotilla stirred “anger” in New Zealand.
“It occurred in the middle of a federal election in this country and it occurred in the midst of a defence strategic review across the Tasman,” Hammond told the Indian Ocean Defence and Security (IODS) conference in Perth on Tuesday.
“The timing triggered a level of anxiety here in the populace and, to quote a colleague from New Zealand, a level of anger across the ditch,” the ABC report said.
The Post put this to Penk on Wednesday morning.
“I think it’s fair to say there's anxiety when warships are operating in an area that is unexpected and with insufficient warning of intentions to conduct live firings and that was the situation that we saw,” Penk replied.
“I don't know that I would characterise New Zealand's posture as exactly that, that Mr Hammond did, but clearly we are very interested and would be anxious if there were to be a repeat of that kind of activity.”
Penk knows Hammond from his former life in the defence force ‒ both men worked in the Australian Navy’s submarine squadron.
He told The Post he didn’t agree with his former colleague’s characterisation of New Zealand’s reaction to the flotilla.
“I don't think that we said we were angry at the time. I think the more appropriate way to view the situation is to be anxious to understand the intentions of that particular PLA-N task force.
“It's a different level of activity in that particular part of the world which is adjacent to our nation, but including the territorial seas and the exclusive economic zone of New Zealand. So, the closer to home such activities take place, the more interested we are in those.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said he was still waiting on an explanation as to why China wanted to fire missiles in the Tasman.
“We made it very clear we couldn't figure out what they were doing there. I mean I did ask the Foreign Minister Wang Yi, were you trying to find out whether [the] trajectory of missiles is different in the southern hemisphere than the northern hemisphere? And I'm still waiting for the answer.”
Asked if he had been “angry”, Peters said no.
“We understand diplomacy and the way to persuade people is not being angry.”
The New Zealand Government has committed to a serious uplift in defence spending that will lift defence expenditure to 2% of GDP in the coming years ‒ a large chunk of which will be spent on replacing the ageing Anzac frigates with modern warships.
The new ships will be either Japan’s Mogami-class frigates and the United Kingdom’s Type 31 vessels. Cabinet is expected to receive advice on the replacements before the end of 2027.