KARACHI, Pakistan
China on Sunday rejected Australia’s complaints as “hyped up” and “inconsistent with the facts” over its recent live-fire naval drills in international waters between Australia and New Zealand.
Commenting on the criticisms from Australia – which denounced Beijing’s recent live-fire drill near the waters of the Oceanian country for lacking transparency – China’s Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said the exercises were “in full compliance with international law and common practices,” state broadcaster CGTN reported.
The Chinese naval drills, he added, were conducted in international waters far from Australia’s coastline, and that China had repeatedly issued safety notices in advance.
“The Australian side’s remarks are completely inconsistent with the facts,” Wu said.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles on Saturday said China had not given a “satisfactory” answer for its warships firing into airspace off the Australian Coast.
“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.
Marles 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 was no risk of danger to any Australian or New Zealand assets.
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.
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.”
