From training to rehearsal: Why 'brazen' Chinese warships are off Sydney's coast

Not since the Japanese attacks on Newcastle and inside Sydney Harbour over the period May 31 to June 8, 1942 has this nation faced the prospect of an aggressive threat against our shores and our shipping such as the one we have witnessed in the past 24 hours. The past day has seen a live fire exercise by a Chinese navy task group off Sydney. It is the most brazen deployment of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy into waters adjacent to Australia. Why have they done this, and why now?

The most obvious reason for the Chinese deployment and the live fire event is to point out that if Australia conducts freedom of navigation exercises off the Chinese coast, China can, and will reciprocate. But unlike China, Australia doesn’t have a nine-dot line beyond the 12-mile limit where it seeks to deny international maritime traffic. China does, and this is a very significant difference between these activities.

Another reason the Chinese have done this is to normalise Chinese military activity in our region. Their security arrangement with Solomon Islands was calculated to improve access by Chinese military and commercial entities and extend Chinese influence. The Chinese will probably now normalise these kinds of naval deployments around Australia to constantly demonstrate how vulnerable we are to maritime interdiction of trade and the inflow of fuel and other critical supplies no longer made here. When will they start sailing aircraft carriers close to Australian waters?

The Chinese move will also be designed to make the Australian Defence Force reassess its force posture. The Chinese want to force Australia to keep its ships closer to home for political as well as military reasons. Given the tiny size of our navy, this also means that we may not be able to help out our allies further north if required. In essence, this is a Chinese rehearsal for the kind of “south seas” operations they might conduct to bottle up the Australian navy in home waters so it cannot help Taiwan, Japan or America in any north-west Asian security crisis.

https://archive.md/K4TA2

https://www.theage.com.au/world/oceania/from-training-to-rehearsal-why-brazen-chinese-warships-are-off-sydney-s-coast-20250222-p5lea0.html