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Australian navy says it’s undaunted by China shadowing warships in South China Sea

  • Navy chief Mark Hammond said he’s ‘reasonably comfortable’ that Australian crews were safe as the ‘odd’ Chinese tactics had not escalated in recent years
  • Hammond added he was prepared for possible surveillance of an upcoming multination exercise by the Chinese navy

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Australian navy chief Mark Hammond speaks to sailors during a visit to a naval base in Rockingham, Western Australia, on August 25. Photo: Royal Australian Navy via AP
The Chinese navy’s “unusual behaviour” in shadowing Australian warships in the South China Sea had not deterred operations in the contested waters, Australia’s navy chief said.
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Vice Admiral Mark Hammond said the “odd” Chinese tactics had not escalated in recent years, which left him “reasonably comfortable” that Australian crews were safe.

Hammond was speaking to reporters ahead of a multination naval drill Exercise Kakadu starting from the northern Australian port of Darwin on Monday for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began.

His comments on Australian naval operations in the South China Sea follow an Australian defence department complaint that a Chinese navy ship fired a laser at one of its surveillance aircraft in February, endangering the crew.

Hammond said the behaviour of the Chinese navy, a branch of the People’s Liberation Army, had changed toward Australian warships in the South China Sea in recent years.

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