Days After Confrontation at Sea, Chinese Warships and Hundreds of Troops Pull Up to Australia
There is little dispute that the communist Chinese regime has made great efforts to expand and project its influence in and around Asia, the international waters of the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean, and beyond, including even over staunch U.S. allied nations in the region like Australia.
A significant part of the effort is how China has worked to transform reefs in the South China Sea into man-made islands that serve as military bases to support at times intimidating and threatening naval actions against maritime traffic that travels through the vital international trade route.
7 News Australia recently reported on the rather odd occurrence of a Chinese naval task force consisting of three ships and accompanying troops making an unannounced port call in Sydney, Australia.
That visit was deemed odd in light of allegations that just a few days prior there had been a confrontation in the South China Sea involving Chinese and Australian vessels.
That confrontation reportedly involved Chinese military ships closely tailing Australia’s HMAS Canberra as it moved through the disputed waters, and allegedly even included purported Chinese fishing vessels in the area lighting up Australian naval reconnaissance helicopters with lasers.
Yet, just days after that reported incident had occurred, the Australian government laid out the welcome mat for the Chinese task force to dock for several days at the Royal Australian Navy base in Potts Point near Sydney. Even more odd, China allowed members of the public to enter and look around on the ships, though it is unclear just how much of the ships the members of the public were actually allowed to see.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army-Navy task force consisted of a frigate, an auxiliary replenishment ship, and an amphibious landing craft which hosted a compliment of soldiers. As the ships pulled into port, the decks of the vessels were lined with officers, sailors and soldiers — roughly 730 total — in dress uniforms and combat fatigues, some even carrying weapons.
The task force was reportedly stopping for the visit as part of a return trip to China after being deployed to the Gulf of Aden in the Middle East to conduct anti-piracy operations in the trade traffic-rich international waters between Somalia and Yemen.
For their part, the Australian government attempted to downplay the previously unannounced visit from the Chinese ships as nothing more than a pre-planned display of friendship and reciprocity following an Australian vessel making a port call in China in April.
A spokeswoman for the Australian Department of Defense told Business Insider Australia that this visit was no different than any other visit by a foreign vessel, and explained, “Defense received the request to visit Sydney in April, and planning to accommodate the Task Force commenced shortly thereafter. The dates of this port visit were requested by China to support the PLA-N Task Group’s broader deployment.”
“Port visits are conducted by all navies to undertake basic logistics and resupply activities, low-level maintenance and provide valuable opportunities for crew respite,” the spokeswoman told the Daily Mail Australia. “HMAS Melbourne is the most recent Royal Australian Navy warship to visit China, visiting Qingdao in late April 2019 for the PLA-N’s International Fleet Review. The Australian Government is committed to maintaining a long-term constructive relationship with China, founded on shared interests and mutual respect.”
The nation’s new Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued similar remarks to reporters while in the Solomon Islands, and attempted to downplay concerns and criticism by stating that the visit had been planned long before the recent confrontation in the South China Sea.
“It may have been a surprise to others but it certainly wasn’t a surprise to the government,” Morrison said of the port call. Responding to criticism of the timing of the visit, he added, “I think any reading into timing could be subject to a bit of over-analysis.”
One of those who was sharply critical of the visit is the head of the Australian National University’s National Security College, professor Rory Medcalf, who said in a tweet, “This is actually quite something. Chinese naval visits to Australia have more typically been a lone frigate, not a task group with an amphibious assault ship and 700 personnel. Sydney is hardly a convenient stopover on their way home from the Gulf of Aden.”
Indeed, Sydney is most certainly not “convenient” as a stopover point on the Chinese task force’s journey back to China, as Sydney is located on the southeast quarter of Australia, well away from any normal route the task force would have taken toward the north on its return voyage home.
From an outside perspective, this has all the appearances of China exerting dominance over Australia by sailing an amphibious task force into a major port, though it is possible that this truly was nothing more than Australia being friendly and welcoming to a regional neighbor. If, however, Australia is serious about joining the U.S. in checking China’s military expansionism in the region and beyond, this was quite possibly a missed opportunity to do so.
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