Chinese warships finally sail out of Sydney Harbour after the display of military might sparked warnings Australia is 'kowtowing to Beijing'
- Chinese warships have finally left Australian shores after a controversial visit
- The ships left on Friday after a four-day stay at the Garden Island naval base
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison came under attack by member of his own party
- Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells scathing of PM over Chinese warship visit
Three Chinese warships have left Australia after their display of intimidating military might led to warnings the country is 'kowtowing to Beijing'.
The three ships sailed out of Sydney on Friday afternoon after a four-day stopover at the Garden Island naval base.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he knew about the visit after the ships had just finished counter-drug trafficking operations in the Middle East.
Chinese warships (pictured) have finally departed Australian shores after their display of intimidating military
But experts and MPs feared the visit was a display of might meant to remind Australia of China's power.
'It raised a lot of hackles,' John Blaxland, professor of international security and intelligence studies at the Australian National University in Canberra, told the ABC on Friday.
'The ships arrived off Darling Point and other famous places in Sydney's harbour without people knowing in advance... and with armed soldiers and sailors on the decks of the ships looking fairly aggressive.'
The warships had arrived on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the visit had been a mutual arrangement.
'It was a reciprocal visit because Australian naval vessels visited China,' Mr Morrison told reporters in the Solomon Islands' capital Honiara this week.
'So it may have been a surprise to others, but it certainly wasn't a surprise to the government.'
Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells has since criticised Mr Morrison in an opinion piece published in The Australian on Friday, where she accused him of letting the Chinese dictate terms.
The three ships sailed out of Sydney on Friday afternoon after there surprise four-day stopover at the Garden Island naval base (Chinese warship pictured)
The unexpected arrival of the warfare vessels came amid a tussle for influence between Australia and China in the Pacific (Chinese warship pictured)
She also berated Mr Morrison for the controversial timing of the three warships docking at Sydney Harbour this week.
Senator Fierravanti-Wells added she believes the visit 'signalled that Australia has lost the psychological contest with Beijing'.
'Morrison's cabinet of groupthinkers and those responsible for the decision have sought refuge in appeasement. They were totally outmanoeuvred by Beijing,' Senator Fierravanti-Wells wrote.
The senator described some of Beijing's actions in the South China Sea as bellicose and illegal and said Australia should not be afraid to call out China 'where it has failed to demonstrate the credentials of a good international citizen'.
Members of the public watch on as the Chinese Naval ship departs Sydney Harbour on Friday
The warships had arrived on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989 (Chinese warship pictured)
'We need to exercise the right of innocent passage in accordance with international law but, above all, we need to stand up for values of freedom and adherence to a rules-based order,' she wrote.
She also slammed Mr Morrison for keeping Australians in the dark prior to the unannounced visit prior to the ships' arrival on Monday.
Not even NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian knew about the top secret visit, which the federal government and Department of Defence have known about for two months.
'It is misleading for the Prime Minister to dismiss the timing of this power projection exercise as a 'reciprocal visit' and to say the task group was merely 'returning from counter-drug trafficking operations in the Middle East,' Senator Fierravanti-Wells wrote.
'Many Chinese-Australians continue to take a courageous stand against the regime,
'I am sure the timing of the PLA naval visit would not sit well with many of them.'
Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured) and his cabinet of groupthinkers were 'totally outmanoeuvred by Beijing', Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells wrote in an opinion piece
Liberal Senator and former minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (pictured) said Australians were misled by Prime Minister Scott Morrison over the visit by three Chinese warships
The conservative Liberal senator was minister for international development and the Pacific from 2016 until last August's leadership spill, where she resigned from the ministry.
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham declined to address Ms Fierravanti-Wells' criticism of Mr Morrison.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said it wasn't in Australia's national interest for the visit of the Chinese warships to become a political debate.
'However, I also think that it would be reasonable that there be public notification of the visit of any vessels into Sydney Harbour,' he told reporters in Sydney.
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham declined to address Ms Fierravanti-Wells' criticism of Mr Morrison (Chinese warship pictured)
'The fact that the NSW government of Gladys Berejiklian apparently weren't informed, I think requires some further explanation of just why it that didn't happen.'
The Department of Defence said this week's visit by a People's Liberation Army—Navy's (PLA-N) Task Force was a routine port visit and one of many port visits to Australia by foreign military vessels facilitated each year.
Around 730 sailors from People's Liberation Army Navy (PLA- N) frigate Xuchang, auxiliary replenishment ship Luoma Hu and landing platform dock Kunlun Shan spent four days in the harbour city.
'The Australian Government is committed to maintaining a long-term constructive relationship with China, founded on shared interests and mutual respect,' a department spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia earlier this week.
