China gave Australia minimal warning before three of its warships began performing live fire military drills less than 300km east of Sydney. The Australian Defence Force revealed late on Friday that there had been no formal warning from the Chinese military. ‘Task Group 107 informed Defence through a verbal radio broadcast on a civil aircraft channel about their plan to carry out live firing activity in the Tasman Sea, approximately 346 nautical miles (640km) off Eden on 21 February 2025,’ as stated by the ADF. ‘Airservices Australia issued a Hazard Advisory. ‘The PLA-N did not inform Defence of its intent to conduct a live fire activity, and has not provided any further information.’ Chinese authorities provided a verbal radio broadcast on the Civil Aviation Channel which sparked a warning to passenger planes in the area. Airservices Australia informed pilots flying above the Tasman Sea shortly after 10 am on Friday. An Emirates flight traveling from Sydney to Christchurch was directly instructed by the Chinese military to alter its course to avoid the airspace around 11 am. The warnings remain in place with Foreign Minister Penny Wong saying it wasn’t clear how long flights would be diverted for. Ms Wong has met with her counterpart Foreign Minister Wang Yi to press him over why Australia was given such minimal warning. Defence Minister Richard Marles called for calm on Saturday morning. According to Weekend Today, there was a notification about a live firing event, although it remains uncertain if the actual firing took place. The notification was brief, resulting in aircraft in the vicinity needing to reroute away from the affected airspace. ‘It was for a period of time which has now elapsed. We’re working with Airservices Australia to make sure that the proper information is being given to airlines that are doing the trans-Tasman route, and they’re able to plan to move around this so there’s not going to be any disruption to flights between Australia and New Zealand today. ‘But it was a very disconcerting set of circumstances yesterday. We’ve raised that with the Chinese government in Canberra, in Beijing and our foreign minister raised this with her counterpart, Minister Wang Yi, the foreign minister of China. ‘This time we are taking a much more serious step in terms of both naval and Air Force assets and working with our partners in the region, particularly New Zealand.’ The Australian Navy has deployed two vessels to shadow the Chinese naval task group, which consist of a frigate, a cruiser, and a supply ship. It’s the furthest south Beijing’s navy has ventured along Australia’s eastern coastline. Ms Wong said countries can conduct military exercises in international waters. ‘The advice to me is this is what China is doing,’ she said on Friday. ‘When they conduct those exercises, obviously, notice is provided to ensure that is available to anyone in the area and that is what Airservices Australia is doing. ‘We always express that all countries should comply with the law of the sea and that is what we will always be articulating to China. ‘As the Foreign Minister, what I need to articulate is Australia’s interests are in transparency and the observance of international law.’ Defence first revealed last week that the Chinese navy was being watched in the Coral Sea, north east of Queensland, in Australia’s exclusive economic zone. Authorities were monitoring two People’s Liberation Army-navy (PLA-N) frigates and a replenishment vessel as they conducted military exercises. The vessels have since moved 346 nautical miles off Eden, off NSW’s south coast. Defence Minister of New Zealand, Judith Collins, said it was a wake-up call for her country that graphical isolation no longer offered protection.