Planes warned of hazard in airspace over Chinese warship live fire exercise

Commercial pilots have been warned of a potential hazard in the airspace between Australia and New Zealand, where Chinese warships have been conducting live fire exercises.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) said earlier this week it was keeping close watch on three Chinese military ships which have been spotted just 150 nautical miles from Sydney after moving steadily down the east coast of Australia over recent days.

Sources not authorised to speak publicly said that commercial airlines had been warned about the exercises and advised to take caution about travelling through the airspace.

The ADF said in a statement on Wednesday night it was “monitoring the People’s Liberation Army-Navy Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the Renhai-class cruiser named Zunyi and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu, which continue to operate to the east of Australia.”

The Defence Department and NZ Defence Department have been contacted for comment.

Defence Minister Richard Marles earlier said the government had deployed air and sea assets to shadow the Chinese ships, describing the flotilla’s behaviour as “unusual” but not necessarily unprecedented.

“They’re not a threat in the sense that they are engaging in accordance with international law,” he said, as the ships have not crossed into Australia’s territorial waters.

“Australia is also entitled to be prudent, and we are monitoring very closely what the activities of the task group are.”

Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie went further, saying: “Let’s call a spade a spade. The Chinese military has built a blue-water navy [capable of long-range operations] and are now testing us, along with other allies in the region.