Chinese warships spotted 150 nautical miles from Sydney

Defence Minister Richard Marles said last week that the government was “responding in a serious way” to the presence of the ships off the Australian coast, even though China had acted “perfectly in accordance with international law”.

“I’ve ordered a deployment of both navy and air force assets to make sure that we are shadowing this to have a clear understanding of what’s going on,” Marles said.

Jennifer Parker, an expert associate at the Australian National University’s National Security College, said: “I assume this is Defence trying to communicate with the Australian public that Chinese military behaviour in the region is changing.

Parker, a former naval officer, said the PLA was “becoming more expeditionary and is operating further from China’s shores”.

More to come