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News.com.au
16-07-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Defence Minister says China could spy on Aussie ships in days ahead
The Deputy Prime Minister says China is not spying on Australian war drills but could not rule it out from happening in the days ahead. Richard Marles, who is also the Defence Minister, said on Today that he was certain ongoing Australian war drills were not being spied on 'right now'. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is participating in Talisman Sabre military exercises that include more than 30,000 military personnel from Australia, the US and 19 partner nations. The exercises began on Sunday and will run until August 4 across Queensland, Western Australia, NSW, the Northern Territory and Papua New Guinea. Mr Marles was asked on Today whether he was aware if warships were spying on the war games. 'They're not, but they have in the past,' he said. 'But it might happen over the coming days and weeks. That's what's happening.' Labor MP Pat Conroy said on Sunday – when he was acting as defence minister – the ADF was prepared for China to observe the military exercises. '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,' Mr Conroy said. '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. '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.' Chinese spy ships were spotted at the last Talisman Sabre exercises in 2023. Mr Marles said the Australian Navy was in the vicinity of China, and the 'fundamental point' was the countries should engage in accordance with the 'rules-based order'. 'The reason we have used that as our baseline is because we are much more often in the vicinity of China than China is in the vicinity of Australia,' he said. 'And the reason for that is because that's where our trade routes are. 'That's where our sea lines of communication are.
Malay Mail
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Australia expects Chinese spying during major war games, renews warning over Pacific military base
SYDNEY, July 13 — Australia's government said today it expects China to spy on major military drills it is conducting with the United States and other allies. It also renewed a charge — denounced by Beijing as a 'false narrative' — that China wants to establish a military base in the South Pacific. The comments by a government minister came as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a six-day visit to China to bolster recently repaired trade ties. More than 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations are set to join in the annual Talisman Sabre exercise from Sunday across Australia and Papua New Guinea. 'The Chinese military have observed these exercises since 2017 and it would be very unusual if they didn't do that this time,' said Pat Conroy, Australia's minister for the defence industry and for Pacific Island affairs. 'We'll obviously observe their activities and monitor their presence around Australia,' he told Australian public broadcaster ABC. '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.' The strategically important South Pacific region is at the centre of a diplomatic scramble for influence pitting China against its Western rivals. 'We're seeing in my portfolio of the Pacific, China seeking to secure a military base in the region,' said Conroy, who has previously made the same assessment. 'We're working very hard to be the primary security partner of choice for the region, because we don't think that's a particularly optimal thing for Australia.' China inked a secretive security pact with Pacific nation Solomon Islands in 2022. Although the details have never been published, the United States and close ally Australia fear it may be the prelude to some kind of permanent Chinese base. Australia wants 'a balanced region where no one is dominated and no one dominates', Conroy said. China's embassy in Fiji this month insisted claims that it wanted to set up a military base in the region were 'false narratives' driven by 'ulterior motives'. Beijing has spent hundreds of millions of dollars building sports stadiums, presidential palaces, hospitals and roads in Pacific island nations. Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Nauru have in recent years severed longstanding diplomatic links with Taiwan in favour of China. — AFP
