Chinese spy ship did not breach sea law, Australia says
A Chinese intelligence ship tracked off Australia's west
coast within 50 nautical miles of a sensitive defense facility did not breach
international maritime laws, Australia said on Saturday.
Australia tracked the spy ship over the past week as it
sailed past the Harold E Holt naval communications station at Exmouth, in
Western Australia, which is used by Australian, U.S. and allied submarines.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday the Chinese navy
vessel was not in Australian territorial waters but its presence was
"concerning," amid an election campaign where China's behavior in the
region has been center stage.
The question of a national security threat posed by China,
including its expanding influence in the Pacific, has been a major theme in the
campaign for the May 21 general election.
Asked on Saturday about whether the vessel's conduct was a
"red line", Morrison said freedom of navigation was permitted around
the world and the ship had not broken maritime laws.
"International law of the sea has not been
breached," he told reporters on the campaign trail in Melbourne. But he
said the issue highlighted challenges Australia faced from China "seeking
to impose its will across the region."
The opposition Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese said on
Saturday that he shared the government's concerns about the vessel and had
sought a briefing.
Defense Minister Peter Dutton said this week that he
considered the vessel's movement "an act of aggression" for
travelling so far south.
China's foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, asked
about Dutton's comments on Friday, said he was not aware of specifics, but that
China always abided by international law and urged Australian politicians to
"refrain from alarmism."
China's embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to a
request for comment on Saturday.
Relations between Australia and China, major trading
partners, have been strained recently over growing Chinese influence in the
Solomon Islands, after the small Pacific island nation signed a security pact with
China.
Chinese navy vessels have been tracked off Australia's
northern and eastern coasts several times in recent years. The same Chinese
vessel monitored Australian navy exercises with the U.S. military off the east
coast last year.
In February, China and Australia traded barbs over an
incident in which Australia said one of its maritime patrol aircraft detected a
laser directed at it from a People's Liberation Army Navy vessel.
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