Pilots were forced to divert commercial airline planes ‘pretty quickly’ after Chinese warships started a ‘live firing’ exercise.
Airservices Australia issued a warning to airlines about the potential dangers off the New South Wales coast.
Qantas, Virgin and Emirates pilots flying over the Tasman Sea were reported to have had to change course.
A People’s Liberation Army Navy frigate, cruiser and replenishment vessel last week entered Australia’s maritime approaches, and travelled down Australia’s east coast this week, monitored by the navies and air forces of Australia and New Zealand.
“The Civil Aviation Authority and Airservices Australia are aware of reports of live firing in international waters,” air traffic control agency Airservices Australia said in a statement on Friday.
“As a precaution, we have advised airlines with flights planned in the area,” it added.
Qantas and its low-cost arm Jetstar were monitoring the airspace and temporarily adjusted some flights across the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was unclear if live fire had been used by the Chinese navy.
“China issued, in accordance with practice, an alert that it would be conducting these activities, including the potential use of live fire. It’s outside of Australia’s exclusive economic zone,” he said, indicating it was at least 200 nautical miles (370 km) offshore.
The Chinese ships put out “a broadcast that was picked up by airlines or literally planes that were commercial planes that were flying across the Tasman”, said Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles.
“They complied with international law in terms of providing notice, but it was very short notice and it did put commercial planes in a disconcerting circumstance where, you know, they were needing to divert pretty quickly,” he added.
Pilots of planes flying from Sydney to New Zealand diverted their courses after hearing one of the warships broadcast a warning of an imminent live-fire exercise, Nine Network television reported.
Australia has asked China why it wanted to hold a live fire exercise between Australia and New Zealand, and why more notice wasn’t given to avoid disruptions to commercial aircraft, he stressed.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a press briefing in Beijing on Friday the Southern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army “organised a fleet of ships to conduct exercises and training in distant waters”.
“The exercises and training activities upheld safety standards and professional operations throughout in accordance with relevant international laws and international practices,” he said.
Just days ago, Taiwan’s defence ministry stressed that the Taiwan Strait does not belong to China and any attempts to create tension threaten global security.
The statement was issued after Beijing criticised Canada for sailing a warship through the sensitive waterway.
The US Navy and occasionally ships from allied countries like Canada, Britain and France transit the strait, which they consider an international waterway, around once a month.
Taiwan also considers it an international waterway but China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, says the strategic waterway belongs to it.
Just weeks ago the first US Navy ships transited the strait since President Donald Trump took office last month, drawing an angry reaction from China, which said the mission increased security risks.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said China had responded to those sailings by carrying out “joint combat readiness patrols.”
“The Taiwan Strait is absolutely not within the scope of China’s sovereignty,” the ministry said in a statement.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy visited China last autumn as the UK seeks to build economic ties while recognising the threats from Xi Jinping’s increasingly authoritarian regime.
