Xiao Qian: Chinese envoy unapologetic, plays down navy drill worry saying behaviour was ‘appropriate’

China’s ambassador to Australia has played down the fallout of a live firing drill, saying notice given was appropriate despite federal government protests.

The Chinese vessels conducted drills in compliance with international law and practice and “I don’t see there’s any reason why the Chinese side should feel sorry about that or even ... apologise for that,” Xiao Qian told the ABC.

Australia has raised concerns with China about a failure to give prior warning about any live-firing drills after the first warning came from a commercial airline pilot who had to divert course.

The defence force only found out about the drills from civil aviation authorities some 40 minutes after the window for the live-firing opened before an alert from New Zealand counterparts tailing the ship came in 90 minutes after opening.

Australian authorities have acknowledged China had a right to be in waters hundreds of kilometres off the Australian coast but “best practice” the defence force followed was to give between 12 to 48 hours notice.

Mr Xiao rejected this.

“Different countries have a different practice and based on the nature of the drill, size of the drill and the scope of the drill, my view is that the Chinese naval certification advice was appropriate,” he said.

“They did make prior notification to the public in a way that is in accordance with international practices.”

The ambassador also played down concerns about the location of the naval task force as the three ships traversed the Australian coastline, saying as a major power, Chinese vessels were present in the region and other parts of the world.

Training was normal for navies across the globe, he said.

“There should be no over-reading into this.”

Defence Minister Richard Marles has also urged calm and encouraged people to “take a deep breath here” as he defended the time it took New Zealand to notify Australia amid concerns about a communication lag.

The exercise couldn’t be conflated with an event in which Australia was threatened, he said responding to questions about the nation’s preparedness.

The defence force doesn’t know whether a Chinese submarine is travelling with the ships, which wouldn’t be unusual for a naval group such as this.

Defence Department secretary Greg Moriarty told a parliamentary hearing he expected China to send naval groups more frequently as it projects itself as a maritime power.

Chief of Army Lieutenant General Simon Stuart told Nine’s Today Show on Friday that “we live in a world that is more contested, more complex, more uncertain, and that creates more anxiousness”.