The ship’s activities come after a fleet of warships that patrol Australia last month.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says authorities are “supervising” Chinese research vessels discovered off the coast of southern Australia.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ship is currently orbiting Australia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) following a joint investigation exercise with New Zealand.
Albanese attempted to downplay the existence of the Tan Su Yi Hao ship at a press conference on March 31, but admitted that “it would prefer not to be there.”
“It was in New Zealand for a joint research project, and this is not the first time a similar ship has been around the Australian coast. For example, it happened by simply giving one example. The expected Australia is monitoring this.”
The ship is suspected of collecting intelligence while simultaneously conducting scientific research. In other words, it is a double purpose ship.
Albanese said that for obvious reasons it won’t broadcast everything Australia is doing, but added, “We’re looking at this.”
Related Stories
“I hope it wasn’t there. But we live in a situation where this ship is there, just as Australia has ships in the South China Sea and ships in the Taiwan Strait and in various regions,” he said.
“Our job is to make sure we represent Australia’s national interests. We do that every day. And I have all the confidence in our defense forces and our security agencies to do that.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to the Australian Department of Defense for comment
Patterns of CCP activity around Australian coasts
The latest incident has followed patterns of CCP naval activity around Australia in recent months.
In early 2025, a Chinese Navy Agenda Group, consisting of three warships, implemented unprecedented revenues for the continent.
Flotilla entered the Australian EEZ and reached within 150-200 miles of major cities in Sydney and Perth.
“The defense has confirmed that China is in compliance with international law, and that’s important,” Albanese said on February 22.
That said, Albanese acknowledged that CCP’s notification to Australia may have been better.
“Notices for this event have occurred, and I say that what we did is to represent and that best practice is to give more notifications.
Abbott calls it “blackmail.”
In response, Prime Minister Tony Abbott described the exercise as “blackmail acts.”
Abbott said the communist regime was undoubtedly trying to show the area “with a new big dog on the block.”
Abbott said the then Albanese government could “talk about normalizing relations,” but “the new normal is that China is trying to bully us into a form of obedience.”
However, the most troubling aspect of the officials’ case was that Australian authorities were not aware of the exercise until they were informed by the commercial pilot.
Abbott admitted that Albanese had a difficult job and “a lot on his plate,” but he said it suggested that it was not an indication of naked strength, but merely a ritual of passing.
