New Zealand defence minister warns Chinese warships ‘extremely capable’, carrying long-range ballistic missiles

New Zealand’s defence minister has warned a flotilla of Chinese warships conducting military drills off the coast of Australia are packing “extremely capable” weapons, with a range of up to 1000km. The scary new detail emerged as the Judith Collins weighed into the recent security scare prompted by two People’s Liberation Army-navy (PLA-N) frigates and a replenishment vessel conducting drills in the Tasman Sea last week. Australian authorities have raised alarm bells over Beijing’s brazen act despite the live fire testing occurring outside Australia’s exclusive economic zone. China has also responded, with the eastern superpower’s defence ministry accusing Australia of making a “groundless accusation”. “(The) naval fleet’s drills took place on entirely open seas far from Australia’s coastline,” China defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian said. Mr Qian said repeated safety notices had been issued ahead of the live fire testing and China’s actions were in line with international practice. “The Australian side has made the groundless accusation against China and deliberately hyped the matter up,” he continued. “We are deeply surprised and strongly dissatisfied with this.” Speaking on Radio New Zealand, Ms Collins disputed China’s claim and went on to detail how the ships had substantial firepower. “There was a warning, to civil aviation flights, that was basically a very short amount of notice – a couple of hours, as opposed to what we would consider best practice,” she said. “It is unusual and we are seeking assurance from the Chinese Embassy around that.” Ms Collins said she had been advised one of the ships was carrying 112 launch cells and reportedly had an anti-ship ballistic missile range of 540 nautical miles – or about 1000km. “We’re taking them at face value that they are undertaking normal transits when it comes to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, that they’re not breaking the law,” she said. “But as we’ve said, it is always better to give a lot more notice when it comes to live firing. “The weapons they have are extremely capable.” HMNZS Te Kaha – the Royal New Zealand Navy’s first Anzac Class frigate – had been monitoring the Chinese fleet during its movement east of Tasmania. Ms Collins’ comments come after a leading analyst warned that China could project power against Australia “whenever they want” in the wake of revelations Beijing did not formally warn the Australian Defence Force (ADF) about its warships’ live fire testing. Malcolm Davis – a senior analyst in defence strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute – made the stark warning about how China was sending “serious” signals in a flex of their military might on Australia’s doorstep. Dr Davis explained the traditional assumption among Australian defence planners about the country’s distance insulating Australia from any foreign threats was “long gone” as a result of China’s latest action. “What you’re seeing now with the Chinese is their willingness to project military power directly on our doorstep”, he told 2GB on Monday. “Here you have a Chinese naval flotilla operating off our coast basically … close enough to essentially do damage in a crisis. Commercial pilots have been warned of a potential hazard in airspace between Australia and New Zealand. Media reports indicate that three Chinese warships in the area reportedly undertook live fire exercises. “This is serious signalling on the part of Beijing to us that they can project power against us whenever they want.” Dr Davis suggested Australia’s relationship with the eastern superpower was on “very shaky ground” despite recent improvements in trade agreements. “We can sell all the lobsters and ship all the wine across to Beijing, but it won’t change their intentions or behaviour in terms of places like Taiwan or the South China Sea,” he said. “And it won’t change their willingness to use military force coercively in an intimidatory fashion when it suits their purposes.” The ADF said it was made aware the Chinese vessels issued a radio broadcast on a civil aircraft channel about the flotilla’s intent to conduct live firing activity about 640km off the coast of Eden, in NSW on Friday. Airservices Australia promptly issued a hazard advisory urging planes to avoid airspace between Australia and New Zealand An ADF spokesman said China did not inform Defence about its intent, and it had not been provided with any further information. The spokesman said live fire activity had most likely ceased and no weapon firings were heard or seen, though a floating surface target was deployed and subsequently recovered by the PLA-N. Dr Davis on Monday said the major mistake from the federal government was issuing a “mild” response when there were provocations from China. He noted earlier in February that a Chinese fighter jet had released flares in front of an Australian military aircraft – condemned by Australia as “unsafe and unprofessional”. “We ‘express concern’ and ‘reinforce the importance of the Chinese operating within accordance with international law’ … it’s clearly not deterring the Chinese from continuing these provocations,” Dr Davis said. He suggested a stronger military presence to “demonstrate” Australia’s determination to operate willingly in international waters or cuts to iron ore trade as a deterrent, arguing trade should “not be at the expense of national security”. But Anthony Albanese has played down suggestions of sanctioning China despite Beijing’s “unsatisfactory” response. The Prime Minister noted there was no danger to any Australian or New Zealand assets. “I think they could have given notice, but given Australia has a presence from time to time in the South China Sea, its location is hinted at by the title of the sea, that we engage in activities that are lawful,” Mr Albanese said on Saturday. “What we have done has made representations saying that we think best practice would be to give more notice and we have done that through diplomatic channels as is appropriate.”