Chinese Warships Move Closer to Perth After 2 Weeks Circling Australia

One ship appears to be moving closer to Australian territorial waters.

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

The Australian Department of Defence says the flotilla of three warships has moved closer to Perth in the past day.

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Task Group 107 has been traversing Australia’s coastline for more than two weeks now, and was first spotted in the Coral Sea on the far north of the continent before heading south.

The PLAN task force caused a stir when it began apparent live fire exercises in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, forcing 49 commercial airlines to re-route.

The group is comprised of the Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the heavily armed Renhai-class cruiser Zunyi, and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu, and they have been heading west along the south of Australia for the past week.

Although sailing within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) they are not within its territorial waters, which extend 12 nautical miles from the coast.

Being just 170 nautical miles (314 kilometres) south-southwest of Perth brings the vessels into the second-closest distance to Australia since Feb. 25, when they were sighted approximately 160 nautical miles (296 kilometres) east of Hobart.

On March 1, the flotilla was 480 nautical miles (890 kilometres) southwest of Adelaide, and by the following day was 570 nautical miles (1055 kilometres) southeast of Perth.

On March 3, it shortened that distance to 305 nautical miles (565 kilometres), and on March 4, has come 130 nautical miles (251 kilometres) further inshore.

CCP-Backed Media Monitoring Movements

The Chinese Weibo social media account “Watching Sea and Sky,” which appears be a channel for disseminating Beijing military news, has been posting regular updates on the vessels’ progress while commenting on the Defence Department’s announcement.

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"

“Among them, the white dot is 138 kilometres from the Australian coast, about 74 nautical miles, which is the farthest distance. The purple dot is about 25 kilometres from the coast of Cape Leeuwen (13.5 nautical miles) which is equivalent to stepping on the territorial waters,” the channel wrote in Chinese.

“The Zunyi ship is basically on the arc between the white and purple dots.”

Defence says it continues to monitor the Task Group while it remains near Australia’s maritime approaches.