Over the past three weeks, three warships have been circling Australia.
China’s states and social media have reported detailed explanations of the status of the three Chinese warships orbiting Australia over the past three weeks.
When the Australian Department of Defense revealed its location on February 13th, news about the naval ship trio broke, and since then the ship has crossed the country’s coastline and stayed in international waters.
Task group 107 consists of the Type 055 cruiser Zunyi, the Type 054A frigate Henyan, and the Type 903 refill ship Weishanhu.
“Miliary Blogger” provides regular updates
China’s state-run or related news outlets, such as Observer Net (Guancha), publish stories about the progress of task groups across the country.
Much of the repeated information on these platforms appears to have come from user accounts on Weibo (one of China’s largest social media platforms) posted under the name “Seath the Sea and Sky” and are linked to government sources.
The account publishes regular updates on the fleet, listed as a “Military Blogger Super Topic Host” and claims to be published through the “Military Observation Post.”
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We also publish detailed maps for task groups courses around Australia.
Image posted to our Weibo account, “Watching The Sea and Sky,” posts regular updates from the CCP Army. This map shows the movement of the people’s liberation of Army Navy ships’ fleets as they evade Australia. Screenshot from Weibo account: “See the sea and sky”
The text accompanying one post suggests that “it is passing through Japan, turning around the Philippines, turning around Australia – the Lhasa Fleet passes through Japan, the Leaon Fleet surrounds the Philippines, the Zunyi Fleet circles Australia, tying simultaneous CCP operations together, and is a show of planned shows.
Another post accused the Australian Department of Defense of using “hands and feet” when reporting the fleet’s position, claiming that in fact it has come much closer to Australia than authorities would admit.
“Using Perth as a reference, it’s 550km away from Perth, but in reality it’s only about 130km, or about 70 nautical miles, from the nearest Australian coast. Of course, it’s still outside Australia’s territory and can be “free to navigate,” the poster claims.
Also, one post seems to be laughing at Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese’s response to the invasion.
“Albanese was taking part in the LGBT carnival while the Eastern Fleet sailed through Australia,” the Post read.
More exercise suggestions
There are also suggestions that the exercise may not be the last one.
Song Zongping, a former PLA graduate of the second Artillery Engineering College, said the state-owned Global Times was necessary to “several countries he didn’t name” to adapt to this trend.
Meanwhile, retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan said he has graduated from USMC Command and Staff College.It signals the new American administration of strength in the hopes that Trump will be scared of military conflict with China, like with Russia. ”
“More and more, these Chinese naval operations are being carried out without warning. This telegraphs that, ultimately, Chinese exercises could immediately move towards actual operations against Taiwan,” he warns.
“China will measure the political response of the Australian government,” Ryan said. “So far, this response could be explained at best that it is sloppy and not too big.
“More importantly, China evaluates the US response. Will the US say anything about this intentionally offensive action against treaty allies? This is probably the main driver of the PLA attack.”
