Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 23, 2025
1 min readLast updated: February 27, 2026
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China accuses Australia of exaggerating concerns over naval drills, asserting compliance with international law. Australia claims inadequate notice affected flights.
SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - China defence ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said on Sunday that Australian complaints over recent Chinese live-fire naval drills in international waters between Australia and New Zealand were "hyped up" and "inconsistent with the facts".
Australia Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Saturday that Beijing had failed to give satisfactory reasons for what he called inadequate notice for live-fire drills a day earlier, which he said had forced airlines to divert flights.
Qian said in a post from the Chinese defence ministry that China had issued repeated safety notices in advance, and that its actions complied with international law and did not affect aviation flight safety.
"Australia, fully knowing this, made unreasonable accusations against China and deliberately hyped it up," Qian's post said. "We are deeply surprised and strongly dissatisfied."
New Zealand said on Saturday it had also observed the Chinese navy conducting a second day of live-fire exercises and that it was monitoring a fleet of Chinese vessels.
(Reporting by David Kirton; Editing by Tom Hogue)
Australia Defence Minister Richard Marles stated that Beijing provided inadequate notice for recent live-fire drills, which he deemed unsatisfactory.
China's defence ministry spokesperson Wu Qian expressed surprise and dissatisfaction, claiming that Australia made unreasonable accusations and exaggerated the situation.
Qian mentioned that China had issued repeated safety notices in advance of the naval drills, asserting that their actions complied with international law.
New Zealand reported observing the Chinese navy conducting live-fire exercises and stated that it was monitoring a fleet of Chinese vessels.
China asserted that its naval drills were conducted in accordance with international law and did not affect aviation flight safety.
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