A Chinese People Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) task group conducted two live-fire drills near Australia and New Zealand, drawing the ire of the South Pacific countries. However, China has retaliated to the criticism, calling it unwarranted ‘hype’ and asking countries to adjust to the PLAN’s distant voyages.
The PLAN task group, including the Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the Renhai-class cruiser Zunyi, and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu, conducted live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea (south of Australia) on February 21 and 22. The drills forced commercial airlines to divert flights and alarmed Australia and New Zealand.
While China has been expanding its presence in the region, this is the first instance of live-fire drills conducted in international waters between Australia and New Zealand. Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles alleged on February 22 that China had not responded satisfactorily to why it held the drills at inadequate notice.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said China’s actions were “in full compliance with international law and international practices” and reiterated that advance notice was given ahead of the drills. He also took a dig at Australia, saying, “Australia, knowing this well, made unreasonable accusations against China and deliberately hyped it up. We are deeply surprised and strongly dissatisfied with this.”
Judith Collins, the defense minister of New Zealand, rejected these claims. She argued that Beijing should have given notice of about 24 to 48 hours before kickstarting the live-fire drills. She also told the media that the warships had massive firepower, hinting at China’s threat. Judith alleged that one of the Chinese warships was carrying ballistic missiles with a range of about 1,000 kilometers.
Some military analysts believe that the drills are aimed at projecting power and sending a message to Australia which routinely participates in ‘Freedom of Navigation Operations’ and patrols in China’s backyard.
The assumption is based on the timing of the drills, which come days after a Chinese fighter jet fired flares at an Australian P-8A reconnaissance aircraft over the contested South China Sea.
While Australia condemned the incident, China justified it on the pretext that the Australian aircraft had deliberately intruded into Chinese airspace.
Notably, Chinese officials and experts have dismissed the outrage against the live-fire drills as an exaggeration.
A Chinese military expert told the state-owned Global Times – “Countries should adapt to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s legitimate voyages at far seas, which will become increasingly routine as the PLA Navy continues to expand its capabilities,” as recently reported by the
He said some nations have been regularly conducting military operations close to China, including exercises, close-in reconnaissance missions, transits through the Taiwan Straits, and trespasses into Chinese territorial waters and airspace.
The expert added that if the legitimate PLA far-seas drills have offended other nations, they should introspect.
Chinese Expansion Is The New Normal
China has heavily militarized the South China Sea. According to reports, it has built several artificial islands with military infrastructure to support its operations in case of a conflict. It regularly holds drills and projects power with cutting-edge equipment, including aircraft carriers.
The PLA started conducting military drills in the western Pacific several years ago. A host of military drills have also been conducted in the Sea of Japan and near the Arctic with ‘key ally’ Russia.
China has also been steadily advancing into the Southern Pacific Ocean and forging new security ties with Pacific Island Countries (PICs), a region that has been an Australian bastion for decades. China signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands in 2022, triggering concerns that a PLAN naval base could soon come up in the region and pose a massive threat to Canberra’s security.
Later that year, reports surfaced that Beijing was attempting to negotiate similar pacts with other states in the region, including Kiribati, a PIC located just about 2000 miles (3,218 kilometers) from the US territory of Hawaii.
In October 2024, a Chinese Type 055 Guided Missile Destroyer, ‘Xianyang’ (108), docked at Port Vila in Vanuatu (just 3,700 kilometers from Australia), unsettling Canberra.
More recently, Beijing signed an agreement with Cooks Island earlier this month, reportedly securing a maritime presence in the region. According to reports, many collaborations outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Deepening Blue Economy Cooperation would pose security challenges for New Zealand.
China has also been making forays in the high north. In July last year, the United States Coast Guard reported that it discovered three Chinese vessels approximately 124 miles (200 km) north of Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands in the Northern Pacific Ocean.
Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, head of US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), told the Senate Armed Services Committee that China is gearing up to expand its military footprint near Alaska, likely deploying bomber flights, as recently reported by the EurAsian Times.
Despite being far from the Arctic, China has declared itself a “near-Arctic state” and is heavily investing in the region’s infrastructure, eyeing its vast energy and mineral wealth.
China is also reportedly trying to infiltrate the US backyard—the Latin American region. Last summer, for instance, reports indicated that China was allegedly building a new radar site near the Guantanamo Bay naval base, which would be capable of spying on the United States.
At the time, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank said that the facility had been under construction since 2021 and was intended to collect Signal intelligence (SIGINT), or eavesdrop on US communication. It noted that the base could detect signals up to 3,000–8,000 nautical miles (3,452–9,206 miles) away with an antenna array positioned in a circle and measuring between 130 and 200 meters in diameter.
However, these claims were refuted by both China and Cuba.
In addition to Cuba, China has deepened ties with other countries in the region, especially by using its huge capital and economic power. For instance, China has constructed the Chancay Port in Peru at an estimated cost of US$3.5 billion under Beijing’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI ).
Over the past decade, China and Latin America have become partners under the BRI. So far, 22 countries in the region have signed BRI cooperation documents with China.
China’s critics contend that this clout could eventually be used to secure a military presence in unsuspecting countries, much to the detriment of Beijing’s rivals.
China has also ostensibly expanded its presence in the Atlantic, also referred to as a strategic US front yard. Two African countries, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, were allegedly approached by China for stationing Chinese troops. A port in Atlantic waters would give Beijing a window to US military movements and allow it to defend its supply routes, should the need arise.
China’s forays into the Indian Ocean are perhaps the most noteworthy. China’s experience in the “far seas” began in 2007 with an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden.
In 2017, the Chinese Navy began operating a support base in Djibouti to guard approaches to and from the Suez Canal. The facility’s pier, which also has a runway, was expanded in 2021 to accommodate large warships, including future carriers. Notably, this Chinese base lies close to a US military base.
China has also rattled India with the development of the Gwadar port in Pakistan and Hambantota port in Sri Lanka. Beijing is also cozying up with Bangladesh, which has sent alarm bells ringing in New Delhi.
There has been suspicion that Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base might be used by the People Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) as a military outpost. While both Cambodia and China have refuted these claims, several observers and Western analysts have expressed concern that China could leverage its generosity in arming Cambodia and constructing a state-of-the-art military facility to get preferential access to the new base.
The Malacca Strait shipping lanes would likely be a major choke point in a conflict between the US and China. Access to Ream Naval Base would strengthen and broaden Beijing’s naval activities. Further, China could use these facilities to block the Malacca Strait and prevent its enemies from resupplying along this vital route in the event of a conflict.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has made it apparent in its public statements that it wants a fleet that can conduct operations anywhere in the world. At the CCP’s 19th Party Congress in 2017, Xi Jinping declared that the PLA must become a “world-class” force by 2050, including a blue-water navy.
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