| Australia-China naval drills to go ahead despite maritime tensions |
Australia and China will go ahead with planned joint naval drills despite Canberra's public support for US naval patrols in the South China Sea, which Beijing blasted as "dangerous and provocative".
It comes as one of Australia's leading defence analysts, Peter Jennings of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, urged the Turnbull government to carry out its own patrols.
Despite the tensions between Australia's closest ally and its largest exports customer, a Defence spokesperson confirmed exercises involving two Anzac-class frigates off the southern coast of China would go ahead as planned.
"The Royal Australian Navy has a long history of engagement with regional navies and regularly conducts port visits and exercises - including in China," the spokesperson said.
"No upcoming engagement activities with the People's Liberation Army Navy have been delayed, suspended or cancelled."
The US Navy sent a guided-missile destroyer close to China's man-made islands on Tuesday to send the signal that Washington does not accept Beijing's claims to ownership of the strategically vital waters around the artificial land.
Defence Minister Marise Payne backed the American gesture, though she took the more cautious alternative of expressing support for the principle of freedom-of-navigation behind the patrol rather than the operation itself.
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Canberra declined to comment on Senator Payne's statement, saying he had nothing to add beyond the official statements out of Beijing.
Senior government frontbencher Arthur Sinodinos told Sky News that Australia "doesn't have any plans to do what the US has done".
Mr Jennings, ASPI's executive director, said that Australia should swiftly follow-up on the US challenge with its own operation consisting either of a naval patrol or an RAAF flyover.
"My sense is that China's next tactic will be to try to create the impression that this is just the US. Therefore [Beijing] is going to be putting a lot of diplomatic pressure on us and everyone else not to follow suit. That makes it critically important that we make our own assertion of freedom of navigation," he said.
He said Australia's interest in making sure the South China Sea remained free for shipping was even greater than the US's given about 60 per cent of Australia's exports passed through the waters.
Rory Medcalf, head of the Australian National University's National Security College, said he expected there would be more freedom-of-navigation activity by the US and other countries in the region, including Australia.
But he stressed there was no need for Australia to "immediately follow up" the US.
"We ought to bide our time but reserve our right to do something in the future, without fanfare … and as a part of our normal operations," he said
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