Australian warships challenged by Chinese military in South China Sea
Updated
Three Australian warships were challenged by the Chinese military as they travelled through the disputed South China Sea earlier this month, the ABC can reveal.
The confrontations with the People's Liberation Army are believed to have occurred as China was conducting its largest ever naval exercises in the hotly contested waters.
Defence sources have confirmed HMAS Anzac, HMAS Toowoomba and HMAS Success were challenged by the PLA Navy as they were transiting towards Vietnam where they are now conducting a three-day goodwill visit in Ho Chi Minh City.
One official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, insists the exchanges with the Chinese were polite, but "robust".
The Defence Department has refused to answer questions or discuss details of the interactions between the Australian warships and the Chinese military.
In a statement it has confirmed HMAS Anzac and HMAS Success recently travelled through the South China Sea after leaving Subic Bay in the Philippines, while HMAS Toowoomba also went through the disputed waters after departing from Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia.
"The Australian Defence Force has maintained a robust program of international engagement with countries in and around the South China Sea for decades," the department told the ABC.
"This includes bilateral and multilateral military exercises, port visits, maritime surveillance operations and ship transits."
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would not confirm the incident but reiterated Australia's right to conduct freedom of navigation exercises in the area.
"We maintain and practice the right of freedom of navigation and overflight throughout the world, and in this context, naval vessels on the world's oceans including the South China Sea, as is our perfect right in accordance with international law," he said.
Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne also reiterated Australia's rights within international law and downplayed the seriousness of the incident.
"I think 'confrontation' is somewhat of a tabloid-style description of what goes on in the South China Sea very regularly," he said.
During their port visit to Ho Chi Minh City, HMAS Anzac, HMAS Toowoomba and HMAS Success will conduct a logistic resupply and local engagement with Vietnam People's Armed Forces and local government officials.
Earlier this month, Beijing boasted of the largest-ever military exercises by the Chinese navy in the contested South China Sea.
In the rare display, China brought much of its naval hardware for the world to see — 10,000 personnel, 76 fighter jets, 48 naval vessels, a nuclear powered submarine and China's first aircraft carrier.
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Vietnam, China, Malaysia have eyes on the prize
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Rich in resources and traversed by a quarter of global shipping, the South China Sea is the stage for several territorial disputes that threaten to escalate tensions in the region.
At the heart of these disputes are a series of barren islands in two groups - the Spratly Islands, off the coast of the Philippines, and the Paracel Islands, off the coasts of Vietnam and China.
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Both chains are essentially uninhabitable, but are claimed by no fewer than seven countries, eager to gain control of the vast oil and gas fields below them, as well as some of the region's best fishing grounds.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei have made claims to part of the Spratlys based on the internationally recognised Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends 200 nautical miles from a country's coastline.
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Based on the EEZ, the Philippines has the strongest claim on the Spratlys and their resources, with its EEZ covering much of the area.
However the lure of resources, and prospect of exerting greater control over shipping in the region, means that greater powers are contesting the Philippines' claims.
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China has made extensive sovereignty claims on both the Spratlys and the Paracels to the north, based largely on historic claims outlined in a map from the middle part of the 20th Century known as the 'Nine Dash Map'.
Taiwan also makes claims based on the same map, as it was created by the nationalist Kuomintang government, which fled to Taiwan after the communists seized power in China.
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Vietnam also claims the Spratlys and the Paracels as sovereign territory, extending Vietnam's EEZ across much of the region and bringing it into direct conflict with China.
There have been deadly protests in Vietnam over China's decision to build an oil rig off the Paracels.
One Chinese worker in Vietnam was killed and a dozen injured in riots targeting Chinese and Taiwanese owned factories, prompting 3,000 Chinese nationals to flee the country.
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EEZ can only be imposed based on boundaries of inhabitable land, and this has prompted all the countries making claims on the region to station personnel, and in some cases build military bases out of the water, to bolster their claim.
Building and protecting these structures has resulted in a series of stand-offs between countries in the region, each with the potential to escalate.
China has been leading the charge with these installations, and has deployed vessels to the region to protect their interests.
Chinese coast guard vessels have used a water cannon on Vietnamese vessels, as well as blockading an island where the Philippines has deployed military personnel.
Topics: world-politics, defence-and-national-security, defence-forces, navy, china, australia
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