A recent report said, since 2015, the PLA-N had grown from 255 submarines and surface combatants to more than 400. Photo: ADF.
In an apparent show of force, three vessels from China’s Peoples’ Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) have conducted a long-range deployment through international waters down the length of Australia’s east coast.
The appearance of the ships comes just a week after a Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft was again subjected to what has been deemed an unsafe and unprofessional intercept by PLA-N fighter aircraft over the South China Sea. Flares were again released in front of the P-8 by a Shenyang J-16, but there was no damage to the P-8 and it returned safely to its base in Singapore.
The ships – the Type 054A Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the Type 055 Renhai-class cruiser Zunyi, and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu – transited the Torres Straight on 12 February, and have been making their way down through the Coral and Tasman seas to a point about 300 km east of Tasmania.
They have been shadowed by the Royal Australian navy’s Anzac-class frigate HMAS Arunta, Royal Australian Air Force aircraft, and the Royal New Zealand Navy’s frigate HMNZS Te Kaha.
This is an extraordinary undertaking by the PLA-N which, until the past decade, has rarely ventured beyond the western Pacific or eastern Indian Ocean. There appears to be no tactical reason for the deployment, other than for the PLA-N to demonstrate its ability to do so, which has strategic implications.
But with a massive build-up of the PLA-N now seeing it surpass the US Navy as the world’s largest, and the development of capital ships such as aircraft carriers, cruisers and ballistic missile submarines supported by destroyers, frigates and long-range replenishment ships, it really was just a matter of time before such a mission were to be undertaken.
In a recent report, the US Congressional Research Service said, since 2015, the PLA-N had grown from 255 submarines and surface combatants to more than 400, with more than 70 per cent of its fleet commissioned since 2010, and the vast majority of its fleet operational in the western Pacific.
By comparison, the US Navy has fewer than 320 ships which are deployed globally, while the Royal Australian Navy has just 18 combatants, comprising three Hobart-class destroyers, seven Anzac-class frigates, two Canberra-class LHDs, and six Collins-class submarines.
While PLA-N vessels have undertaken cruises across the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf and to Djibouti in the Red Sea in recent years, these were port visits designed to replenish outposts or work with friendly forces such as those from Iran.
There is little doubt that the PLA has been emboldened in recent years by Royal Australian Navy vessels and Royal Australian Air Force aircraft regularly operating in and over the South China Sea and other areas which are claimed by China, despite those claims not being recognised by the United Nations’ Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The 13,000-tonne Type 055 cruiser is, on paper, one of the most powerful warships in the world. It has 112 vertical launch cells armed with YJ-18A anti-ship and YJ-21 hypersonic missiles with a range of more than 1000 km, a ‘stealthy’ low-observable profile, anti-submarine torpedos and two helicopters.
At twice the size of a Hobart-class destroyer and nearly four times that of an Anzac-class frigate, the Zunyi cut an imposing figure when photographed by Australian and New Zealand naval vessels and aircraft during its cruise through the Tasman Sea.
The smaller Hengyang has been providing an anti-submarine and air defence screen for the flotilla, while the Weishanhu has kept the cruiser and the frigate replenished with stores such as food, fuel and ammunition on the cruise.
Tensions were raised on the weekend when the Zunyi advised a commercial flight operated by Virgin Australia on an international ‘guard’ frequency that it was conducting live-fire exercises while operating about 550 km east of Eden on the NSW Far South Coast. While there is no obligation on military vessels to advise of such exercises beforehand, it is considered to be unprofessional not to when operating in international waters.
While these exercises were likely little more than gunnery practice against target buoys, in the absence of any additional information, there was sufficient concern for Airservices Australia to advise other commercial flights to divert around the area to avoid any potential accidents.
When asked about the exercises, Defence Minister Richard Males said his best advice was that China had acted in accordance with international law.
“But when Australia, for example, does a live firing event such as this, which countries are entitled to do on the high seas, and that’s where this task group is, they’re in international waters, we would typically give 12-24 hours’ notice, which enables aircraft that are going to potentially be in the vicinity to make plans to fly around.”
Former naval officer and Adjunct Fellow at UNSW Canberra, Jennifer Parker said, “It is of course sending a message to Australia about the PLA-N’s capability.
“We must become accustomed to these kind of operations,” she said. “The lesson here is China has a blue water capability, a point we already knew.”
New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins has told Radio New Zealand that the three warships are not nuclear powered or carrying nuclear weapons, but still have considerable fire power.
“These ships are currently around 280 nautical miles east of Tasmania, so the ships have slightly changed their formation but of course we are monitoring it, and our Te Kaha (frigate) has been out there basically monitoring and doing what you’d expect us to be doing.”
