Australia monitoring Chinese vessel off southern coast
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The news: Australia’s defence and national security agencies are tracking a high-tech Chinese research ship off the coast of southern Australia, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying he “would prefer that it wasn’t there”.
The context: The Tan Suo Yi Han is currently outside Australia’s exclusive economic zone off the coast of southern Australia and is heading west.
The vessel last departed Wellington, New Zealand on 23 March 2025 and has not currently reported any intentions to visit an Australian port. The automatic identification system is transmitting information that the vessel will arrive in China on 30 April 2025.
Last month, vessels from China's navy conducted a circumnavigation of a large part of Australia, as well as hosting live fire exercises in the Tasman Sea, which included activities within Australia's exclusive economic zone.
As opposed to the activities last month, the vessel currently circumventing the country is operating in accordance with previous operations near Australia's coast.
What they said: Albanese told reporters in Perth that he'd "prefer" the ship wasn't in Australian waters but suggested China hadn't broken international law.
"I would prefer that it wasn't there. But we live in circumstances where, just as Australia has vessels in the South China Sea and vessels in the Taiwan Strait and a range of areas, this vessel is there," he said.
"What our task is to do is to make sure that we represent Australia's national interests … and I have every confidence, every confidence, in our Defence Force and our security agencies to do just that."
A spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said: “We know exactly where it is, we know the direction it is heading, and the speed it’s moving in that direction.”
The sources: Labor campaign, ABC
