Chinese State Media Track Progress of Warships Circling Australia, Hints at More to Come

Three warships have been circling Australia over the past three weeks.

The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army-Navy Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu in the Solomon Sea. Courtesy of the Australian Defence of Department

Chinese state and social media have been reporting detailed accounts of the position of three Chinese warships circumnavigating Australia over the past three weeks.

News of the trio of naval vessels broke when the Australian Defence Department revealed their whereabouts on Feb. 13, and since then the ships have traversed the coastline of the country within international waters.

Task group 107 is comprised of a Type 055 cruiser Zunyi, Type 054A frigate Hengyang, and Type 903 replenishment ship Weishanhu.

They caused a national stir when undertook live fire exercise in the Tasman Sea causing a last-minute diversion of several commercial flights due to lack of proper warning.

‘Miliary Blogger’ Providing Regular Updates

Chinese state-owned or affiliated news outlets, like Observer Net (Guancha), have published stories about the task group’s progress around the country.

Much of the information repeated across these platforms seem to have emanated from a user account on Weibo (one of the largest social media platforms in China) who posts under the name “Watching the Sea and Sky,” and seems to have connections to government sources.

The account has published regular updates on the flotilla, is listed as a “military blogger super topic host,” and claims to publish from a “Military Observation Post.”

It has also published detailed maps on the task group’s course around Australia.

An image posted on the Weibo account, "Watching the Sea and Sky," which posts regular updates on the CCP military. This map shows the movements of a flotilla of People's Liberation Army Navy vessels as they circumvent Australia. Screenshot of Weibo account "Watching the Sea and Sky"

Text accompanying one post translates as, “Passing through Japan, circling the Philippines, and circling Australia—the Lhasa fleet passes through Japan, the Liaoning fleet circles the Philippines, and the Zunyi fleet circles Australia,” linking simultaneous CCP operations together and suggesting they are a planned show of force.

The post includes other maps showing People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) ship positions in other areas of the Indo-Pacific, and includes the hashtag #FenghuoQingding Plan#—seemingly a call to arms for other online users to post content related to Beijing’s military.

On another post, the same account accuses the Australian Ministry of Defence of using “sleight of hand” when reporting the flotilla’s position, claiming it actually came far closer to Australia than officials admit.

“Using Perth as a reference, it is 550 kilometres away from Perth, but in fact it is only about 130 kilometres away from the nearest Australian coast, that is, about 70 nautical miles. Of course, it is still outside the territorial waters of Australia and can ‘freely navigate,’” the poster claims.

One post also appears to mock Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for his response to the incursion.

“While the Eastern Fleet was sailing around Australia, Albanese was participating in the LGBT carnival,” the post read.

Suggestions of More Exercises

There are also suggestions the exercise may not be the last.

Late last week, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Ministry of Defence spokesman Wu Qian stated in a press briefing that countries should “adapt to the PLAN’s legitimate voyages at (sic) far seas, which will become increasingly routine as [it] continues to expand its capabilities.”

Song Zhongping, a graduate of the former PLA Second Artillery Engineering University, the state-owned Global Times said “some countries”—which he didn’t name—needed to adjust to this trend.

Meanwhile, retired Australian Army major general, Mick Ryan, graduate of the USMC Command and Staff College said the exercise was aimed at “signalling strength to the new American administration in the hope that Trump will be scared off from any military confrontation with China as he was with Russia.”

“Increasingly, these Chinese naval operations are being executed with no warning, which is telegraphing that eventually, the Chinese exercises might shift instantly from exercise to real operations against Taiwan,” he warns.

“China will be measuring the political response by the Australian government,” Ryan says. “So far, the response could, at best, be described as sloppy and not great.

“More importantly, China will be assessing U.S. responses. Will the U.S. say something about this deliberately aggressive act against a treaty ally? This is perhaps the primary driver of the PLA aggression.”