Chinese warships cause flight disruption in Tasman airspace between Australia and New Zealand

Commercial pilots were on Friday warned to avoid the airspace between Australia and New Zealand over fears Chinese warships were conducting live fire exercises.

Three Chinese military ships, first identified by the Australian Defence Force operating in waters north-east of Australia last week, have travelled down the east coast over recent days.

Defence were alerted by Beijing on Friday of their intent to conduct live fire exercises about 640km east of Eden, on NSW’s southern coastline, prompting airlines to be notified to stay out of the area.

A Qantas flight from Sydney to Auckland was reportedly harassed by the Chinese military and a Chinese ship told a Kiwi military aircraft it would be “endangered if it came within 19 nautical miles of the ship”, The Australian Financial Review reported.

After Australia was made aware of China’s intent to conduct live fire exercises, an 18km airspace protection zone was established up to 45,000 feet high. Qantas subsequently “temporarily adjusted” some trans-Tasman flights.

It’s understood the Chinese vessels were witnessed deploying a floating target, changing formation, and resetting formation consistent with a live fire event, but that the military did not observe the vessels firing.

While not a breach of international law, sources say the event caused “significant disruption” due to the last-minute notice and the impact on several commercial flights.

Captain Andrew Marshall, president of the Australian and International Pilots Association, said the very late notice was “very unusual”.

“It was obviously quite late notice given air-traffic control were advising pilots of the exercise commencing,” he told The Nightly.

He said it would have impacted quite a number of flights, and the association had no indication of whether it would continue.

“Hopefully, we’ll get advance warning if it does,” he said.

Australian officials have demanded more information from the Chinese Government.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said it was an evolving situation, but she was going to raise the matter with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi when they meet on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Johannesburg on Friday.

“The practice is that countries, including Australia and others, can conduct military exercises in international waters. The advice to me is this is what China is doing,” she told the ABC.

“We have concerns about the transparency associated with this and the notice and I will be having a discussion with Foreign Minister Wang about that.”

She noted the Chinese ships were operating in international waters, but reiterated that all countries should comply with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“That is what we will always be articulating to China and to all others who utilise the maritime commons,” Senator Wong said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had spoken to his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon, as well as Senator Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles.

He reiterated that the activity had been consistent with international law, that the Chinese ships did not appear to have engaged in live firing, and there was “no imminent risk of danger to any Australian assets or New Zealand assets”.

It comes after Defence confirmed last week a Chinese fighter jet had released flares in front of an Australian aircraft in the South China Sea, described as an “unsafe and unprofessional” interaction.

Shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie said China’s latest provocation was a manifestation of Labor’s “continued weakness”.

“Labor’s silence on China’s gunboat diplomacy – which is now impacting commercial flights – speaks volumes,” he said.

“This is a weak government that is keeping Australians in the dark and failing at the most crucial role of government – to uphold our security and sovereignty.”