Aus prepared for Chinese spies at war games
While Mr Conroy said the most 'up-to-date information' was that Chinese surveillance vessels had not yet been spotted, he said it 'would be unusual' for that activity not the occur given Beijing have done so since 2017.
The biennial war games involve more than 30,000 military personnel from Australia and the US, plus 19 partner nations including New Zealand, the UK, Japan, Papua New Guinea and France.
The activities will run from Sunday to August 4 in locations across Queensland, Western Australia, NSW, the Northern Territory and for the first time since the games began in 2005, Papua New Guinea.
'People observe these exercises to collect intelligence around procedures, around the electronic spectrum and the use of communications, and we'll adjust accordingly so that we manage that leakage,' he said. Chinese spy ships were spotted at the last Talisman Sabre exercises in 2023. Supplied/ Defence Credit: Supplied
Mr Conroy, who also holds the portfolio for defence industry and Pacific Island affairs, said the likely involvement of Chinese surveillance would also allow Australia and its allies to practice how to convey that information, and repeatedly stressed the ADF was ready.
'I think it'll be a two way process, but when we conduct these exercises, we're always cognisant that they're being observed by people who want to collect information about how we work with our allies, how we communicate with our allies and partners, and you manage that accordingly in a sensitive way,' he said.
'That's what the Australian people would expect our Australian Defence Force to do, and we'll continue to do that.
'But again, I'll say the Chinese military have observed these exercises since 2017 and it'd be very unusual if they didn't do that this time.'
The question of China's presence at the significant war games comes as Anthony Albanese arrives in China for a six-day trip, in which he will need to balance Australia and China's $312bn economic trade relationship with recurrent geopolitical tensions.
This comes after Chinese warships were spotted circumnavigating Australia's exclusive economic zone in late March, and an incident in February in which commercial Virgin pilots alerted Defence of the Chinese navy conducting live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea. Acting Defence Minister Pat Conroy said it would be 'unusual' for China not to spy on the Talisman Sabre events. NewsWire/ Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia
While Foreign Minister Penny Wong reportedly raised the security issue with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi while in Malaysia on Friday, Mr Conroy would not confirm or deny whether the Prime Minister would do the same.
However he said the government has repeatedly and publicly raised concern of China's 'very significant' military build up, and reiterated calls for more transparency around its actions.
'We've been very clear, both publicly and privately, that we thought that China should have provided more notice about its live firing exercise,' he said.
'We normally give 12 to 24 hours notice before a live firing exercise, they gave notice, but we regarded that as insufficient. We'll continue to articulate and raise that, both publicly and privately.'
Mr Albanese touched down in Shanghai on Saturday evening and while the first leg of his trip will focus on promoting Australia's tourism links with China, he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping when he travels to Beijing.
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