(Reuters) – Australia accused China on Saturday of failing to give satisfactory reasons for what it called inadequate notice of a live-fire drill in waters between Australia and New Zealand that forced airlines to divert flights.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the government did not yet have “a satisfactory answer from China as to the question of the notice” of the drills, which he has said was “disconcerting” for commercial aviation.
“When we do an activity of this kind, we would typically give 12 to 24 hours notice,” Marles told broadcaster Nine Entertainment, according to a transcript. “A satisfactory answer is why that couldn’t have been done.”
On Friday, airlines including Qantas, Emirates and Air New Zealand modified flight paths between Australia and New Zealand after China broadcast a message that its navy would hold live-fire exercises in international waters off the coast of Australia’s New South Wales state.
Australia’s defence force said there was no imminent risk of danger to Australian or New Zealand assets, the government said on Friday.
“China did comply with international law and that’s important to not suggest that that wasn’t the case,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday in remarks televised by the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Friday the naval exercises “upheld safety standards and professional operations throughout in accordance with relevant international laws and international practices”.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Friday on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting in South Africa, saying they would discuss “safe and professional military conduct”.
The exercise took place after a People’s Liberation Army Navy frigate, cruiser and replenishment vessel entered Australia’s maritime approaches last week, and travelled down Australia’s east coast this week, monitored by the navies and air forces of Australia and New Zealand.
Australia this month complained about “unsafe and unprofessional” actions by a Chinese fighter jet towards an Australian maritime patrol in the South China Sea. Beijing accused the Australian aircraft of “deliberately intruding” into its airspace.
China rejects a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague that its claims to almost all of the South China Sea – parts of which are also claimed by several Southeast Asian nations – were not supported by international law.
(Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by William Mallard)
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