- Nineteen prisoners use cutlery to break out of cells at Winchester prison
- France wants progress in Ukraine before Russia returns to G7
- Italy president begins talks to seek way out of government crisis
- Italian PM expected to resign as political chaos deepens
- Russia says US cruise missile test ‘regrettable’
- Kremlin - No date set for Normandy talks on Ukraine despite Macron meeting
- Egypt court hands out 6 death sentences on terror charges
- Putin says Russian nuclear explosion poses no threat
- Russian panel eyes alleged foreign interference in protests
- Gran Canaria wildfire triggers evacuation of thousands of people
- PM Johnson calls on Germany and France to compromise on Brexit
- Sudan's ex-president Bashir arrives at corruption trial
Wednesday,14 July 2021 (YJC) _ Scott Morrison says authorities are ‘very wary’ of the ship, which is monitoring the Talisman Sabre war games between Australia and US.
The Australian government says it is “keeping a close eye” on a Chinese surveillance ship that is heading towards Queensland in an apparent attempt to monitor a joint military exercise with the United States.
Amid ongoing tensions in the relationship with China, the Australian government cited the ship’s presence as evidence Australia and its allies should also be afforded freedom of navigation in the contested South China Sea.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, said on Wednesday he was “very wary” of the ship but added the government had “no objection” to it being in international waters.
“We don’t we don’t raise any issue about that, just like we don’t think any issue should be raised when [anyone] – whether it’s us or the Americans or the British or the French or anyone else – is sailing through the South China Sea,” Morrison told Sydney radio 2SM.
“Of course we watch them. We’re aware of that. And they’re watching us.”
The comments follow reports, first published by the ABC, that the Chinese auxiliary general intelligence (AGI) vessel Tianwangxing was approaching Australia’s east coast via the Torres Strait.
The reports coincided with the official opening of Talisman Sabre, the largest two-way training exercise between Australian and US military forces, held in Queensland every two years.
The Australian defence minister, Peter Dutton, said the arrival of the surveillance vessel was “a repeat of what the Chinese have done in years past”. He said both covert and overt activities were associated with previous Talisman Sabre exercises.
Your Comment