The excerpt below is from an article written by Sahil Makkar for Daily Mail Australia, which originally appeared on July 6, 2019. The original article in its entirety can be read here.
- A Chinese spy warship is heading towards the Australian territorial waters
- It is expected to monitor a joint military exercise between Australia and the US
- The exercise will take place from July 11 to July 24 on the Queensland Coast
A Chinese spy warship is set to travel near Australian territorial waters to monitor joint military exercises with the United States.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy’s auxiliary general intelligence vessel is expected to monitor Talisman Sabre war games in Shoalwater Bay Training Area on the Queensland coast.
Up to 25,000 personnel from Australia and the US are expected to take part in exercise activities from July 11 to July 24.
The ABC reported that PLAN’s type 815G Dongdiao-class electronic surveillance ship was north of Papua New Guinea on Saturday night.
The ship, fitted with advanced communications systems, has begun its sail south towards Australia.
This is not the first time China has sent a spy vessel to monitor the war games between Australia and the US.
According to the Australian Defence Force, a type 815G Dongdiao-class electronic surveillance ship was spotted outside Australian territorial waters during the Talisman Sabre war games 2017.
‘The Chinese vessel has remained outside Australian territorial waters but inside the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone in the Coral Sea,’ it said in a statement two years ago.
It is believed Chinese forces are intrigued as Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force is participating for the first time in the military exercises between Australia and the United States.
‘This year’s Talisman Sabre involves the Japanese Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, which was created last year primarily as a response option for potential Chinese incursion in the Senkaku Islands’, a military official told the ABC.
Read the original article in its entirety here.
