UPDATES WITH NEW ZEALAND DEFENSE MINISTER LATEST STATEMENT, CHANGE HEADLINE, DECK
By Islamuddin Sajid
ISLAMABAD (AA) - New Zealand Defense Minister Judith Collins on Saturday claimed Chinese warships launched a second live firing exercise in international waters between Australia and New Zealand.
"We are aware of reporting from the New Zealand Defense Force that the Chinese naval Task Group has advised of a second window for live firing activity, on Saturday afternoon New Zealand time," Radio New Zealand quoted Collins as saying.
"We have had confirmation that personnel on Navy frigate HMNZS Te Kaha observed live rounds being fired from the Zunyi's main gun, as would be expected during the course of such an exercise," the defense chief said.
She added that the Defense Ministry was working with the civil aviation to ensure all aircraft are notified.
Earlier, Australia Defense Minister Richard Marles said China has not given a "satisfactory" answer for its warships firing into airspace off the Australian Coast.
Marles said Foreign Minister Penny Wong raised this issue with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during their meeting on the sidelines of a G20 foreign ministers summit in South Africa.
"I don't think we have a satisfactory answer from China as to the question of the notice, we would have preferred that there was much more notice provided so that we didn't have the disconcerting set of circumstances yesterday," said Marles.
Commercial flights between Australia and New Zealand were put on notice Friday because of "fears" of possible live-fire exercises by two Chinese warships southeast of Sydney in international waters.
The directive prompted several international flights to divert routes.
"What we had yesterday was the notification of a live firing event. It's not clear whether that actually occurred in terms of the live firing itself," said Marles.
He added that despite the short notice, it was important to remember that China has not broken international law.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke to Christopher Luxon, his New Zealand counterpart, on Friday and said there has been no risk of danger to any Australian or New Zealand assets.
Albanese said the vessels issued an alert that they would be holding exercises, including potential live fire.
He repeated that it was not clear whether live firing had occurred.
Australia’s Defense Ministry claimed last week that a Chinese fighter jet released flares in front of an Australian military plane in an "unsafe and unprofessional" interaction above the disputed South China Sea.
Canberra said a People’s Liberation Army J-16 fighter aircraft “released flares in close proximity” to an Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft which was “conducting a routine maritime surveillance patrol” above the vast water body.
China's Defense Ministry, however, slammed Australia for its alleged “false narratives” and said it "deliberately infringed upon China's rights and interests in the South China Sea, and even complained first and spread false narratives."