New Zealand says China navy held another live-fire drill in international waters
New Zealand said the Chinese navy conducted a live-fire exercise in international waters near the Pacific nation on Saturday, a day after it held a similar drill between Australia and New Zealand that forced airlines to divert flights.
"Reporting from the New Zealand Defence Force that the Chinese naval Task Group has advised of a second window for live firing activity, on Saturday afternoon," a spokesperson for Defence Minister Judith Collins said in a statement.
Personnel on New Zealand Navy frigate Te Kaha observed live rounds fired from a Chinese vessel's main gun, the statement said, adding that the task group had "advised via radio channels of its intent to conduct live firing."
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said earlier on Saturday that it was unclear where the Chinese naval vessels were headed in international waters and for what purpose.
"What we are doing is monitoring and shadowing and tracking the fleet," he said in Christchurch, adding that China was acting in accordance with international law.
Saturday's live-fire drill took place in the Tasman Sea, broadcaster Radio New Zealand reported.
On Friday, airlines including Qantas, Emirates and Air New Zealand had to modify flight paths between Australia and New Zealand after China broadcast a message that its navy would hold live-fire exercises in international waters off Australia's New South Wales state coast.
Australia Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Saturday that Beijing had failed to give satisfactory reasons for what he called inadequate notice of Friday's live-fire drill. The late notice was "disconcerting" for commercial aviation, he said.
"When we do an activity of this kind, we would typically give 12 to 24 hours notice," Marles told broadcaster Nine Entertainment, according to a transcript.
The warning by the Chinese vessels was at "very short notice," Marles said, without saying how many hours were given.
Australia's defense force said there was no imminent risk of danger to Australian or New Zealand assets, the government said on Friday.
"China did comply with international law and that's important to not suggest that that wasn't the case," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday in remarks televised by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian accused Australia of "deliberately hyping up" the drills, according to a release on Sunday.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Friday on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting in South Africa, saying they would discuss "safe and professional military conduct."
Wang told the Australian foreign minister that bilateral ties had stabilized but he hoped Australia would continue to "properly handle any differences and disagreements," according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry on Saturday.
There was no mention of China's military conduct in the statement.
Friday's exercise took place after a People's Liberation Army Navy frigate, cruiser and replenishment vessel entered Australia's maritime approaches last week, and traveled down Australia's east coast this week, monitored by the navies and air forces of Australia and New Zealand.
Australia this month complained about "unsafe and unprofessional" actions by a Chinese fighter jet towards an Australian maritime patrol in the South China Sea. Beijing accused the Australian aircraft of "deliberately intruding" into its airspace.
China rejects a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague that its claim to almost all of the South China Sea, parts of which are also claimed by several Southeast Asia nations, was not supported by international law.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yomiuri Shimbun
an hour ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
2 Chinese Aircraft Carriers Operate Simultaneously in Pacific
Yomiuri Shimbun file photos From left, the Japanese national flag, the Chinese national flag Tokyo, June 9 (Jiji Press)—The Chinese navy's two active aircraft carriers, the Shandong and Liaoning, have operated simultaneously in the Pacific Ocean for the first time, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Monday. The Shandong on Monday conducted aircraft takeoff and landing operations in Japan's exclusive economic zone near the so-called second island chain in the Pacific, which connects Japan's Ogasawara Islands and the U.S. territory of Guam, the ministry said. The Liaoning operated off Minamitorishima, an island in the Ogasawara chain, on Saturday and Sunday, becoming the first Chinese aircraft carrier to cross the second island chain, the ministry said. The activities of the aircraft carriers are an apparent warning to the United States as China is believed to position the second island chain as one of its defense lines to block the approach of the U.S. military in the event of a conflict. Asked at a press conference on Monday about the activity of the Liaoning, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said that Tokyo has said what it needs to say to Beijing. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the activities of Chinese warships in the waters in question are fully consistent with international law. The Shandong and four other Chinese warships sailed about 550 kilometers southeast of Miyakojima, an island in the southern Japan prefecture of Okinawa, on Saturday, according to the Japanese Defense Ministry. Takeoffs and landings of helicopters and fighter jets at the Shandong were observed on Monday in the Japanese exclusive economic zone about 370 kilometers north of Okinotorishima, another island in the Ogasawara chain, according to the ministry. The Liaoning also remained in the waters beyond the second island chain.
Asahi Shimbun
2 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Two Chinese aircraft carriers seen in Pacific for first time, Japan says
The Chinese Navy aircraft carrier Liaoning takes part in a naval parade off the eastern port city of Qingdao, to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, China, April 23, 2019. (REUTERS) Two Chinese aircraft carriers were spotted conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said on Tuesday. Japan's Defense Ministry has confirmed the Liaoning and Shandong operating in separate locations in the Pacific on Saturday, both near remote southern islands belonging to Japan. Iwaya said the ministry had communicated with Beijing through China's embassy in Japan and that it would take further 'appropriate steps' as needed. He stopped short of condemning China for the operations. Japan had said a day earlier that Liaoning sailed in the sea within Japan's exclusive economic zone near Minamitorishima, a remote island east of Iwo Jima.
Japan Today
4 hours ago
- Japan Today
Top U.S. universities raced to become global campuses. Under Trump, it's becoming a liability
By COLLIN BINKLEY Three decades ago, foreign students at Harvard University accounted for just 11% of the total student body. Today, they account for 26%. Like other prestigious U.S. universities, Harvard for years has been cashing in on its global cache to recruit the world's best students. Now, the booming international enrollment has left colleges vulnerable to a new line of attack from President Donald Trump. The president has begun to use his control over the nation's borders as leverage in his fight to reshape American higher education. Trump's latest salvo against Harvard uses a broad federal law to bar foreign students from entering the country to attend the campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His order applies only to Harvard, but it poses a threat to other universities his administration has targeted as hotbeds of liberalism in need of reform. It's rattling campuses under federal scrutiny, including Columbia University, where foreign students make up 40% of the campus. As the Trump administration stepped up reviews of new student visas last week, a group of Columbia faculty and alumni raised concerns over Trump's gatekeeping powers. 'Columbia's exposure to this 'stroke of pen' risk is uniquely high,' the Stand Columbia Society wrote in a newsletter. People from other countries made up about 6% of all college students in the U.S. in 2023, but they accounted for 27% of the eight schools in the Ivy League, according to an Associated Press analysis of Education Department data. Columbia's 40% was the largest concentration, followed by Harvard and Cornell at about 25%. Brown University had the smallest share at 20%. Other highly selective private universities have seen similar trends, including at Northeastern University and New York University, which each saw foreign enrollment double between 2013 and 2023. Growth at public universities has been more muted. Even at the 50 most selective public schools, foreign students account for about 11% of the student body. America's universities have been widening their doors to foreign students for decades, but the numbers shot upward starting around 2008, as Chinese students came to U.S. universities in rising numbers. It was part of a 'gold rush' in higher education, said William Brustein, who orchestrated the international expansion of several universities. 'Whether you were private or you were public, you had to be out in front in terms of being able to claim you were the most global university," said Brustein, who led efforts at Ohio State University and West Virginia University. The race was driven in part by economics, he said. Foreign students typically aren't eligible for financial aid, and at some schools they pay two or three times the tuition rate charged to U.S. students. Colleges also were eyeing global rankings that gave schools a boost if they recruited larger numbers of foreign students and scholars, he said. But the expansion wasn't equal across all types of colleges — public universities often face pressure from state lawmakers to limit foreign enrollment and keep more seats open for state residents. Private universities don't face that pressure, and many aggressively recruited foreign students as their numbers of U.S. students stayed flat. The college-going rate among American students has changed little for decades, and some have been turned off on college by the rising costs and student debt loads. Proponents of international exchange say foreign students pour billions of dollars into the U.S. economy, and many go on to support the nation's tech industry and other fields in need of skilled workers. Most international students study the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math. In the Ivy League, most international growth has been at the graduate level, while undergraduate numbers have seen more modest increases. Foreign graduate students make up more than half the students at Harvard's government and design schools, along with five of Columbia's schools. The Ivy League has been able to outpace other schools in large part because of its reputation, Brustein said. He recalls trips to China and India, where he spoke with families that could recite where each Ivy League school sat in world rankings. 'That was the golden calf for these families. They really thought, 'If we could just get into these schools, the rest of our lives would be on easy street,'' he said. Last week, Trump said he thought Harvard should cap its foreign students to about 15%. 'We have people who want to go to Harvard and other schools, they can't get in because we have foreign students there,' Trump said at a news conference. The university called Trump's latest action banning entry into the country to attend Harvard 'yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the Administration in violation of Harvard's First Amendment rights.' In a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's previous attempt to block international students at Harvard, the university said its foreign student population was the result of 'a painstaking, decades-long project' to attract the most qualified international students. Losing access to student visas would immediately harm the school's mission and reputation, it said. 'In our interconnected global economy," the school said, 'a university that cannot welcome students from all corners of the world is at a competitive disadvantage.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
