Australia and New Zealand are monitoring a group of Chinese naval vessels spotted in international waters near Sydney, the country’s defence ministers said on Thursday.

Three Chinese vessels are travelling down the eastern coast of Australia, the Australian Defence Ministry said.

Minister Richards Marles told Sky News that the vessels had been under surveillance since they came close to Australia.

“We are keeping a close watch on them and making sure that we watch every move,’’ he said.

Mr Marles added the vessels were not doing anything contrary to international law.

“But there is no doubt that this is, not unprecedented, but an unusual event. Just as they have a right to be in international waters, which is what they are doing, we have a right to be prudent and to make sure that we are surveilling them, which is what we are doing,’’ he said.

Mr Marles’s New Zealand counterpart, Judith Collins, told Radio New Zealand her country’s defence forces were also monitoring the group.

“We have not been informed by the Chinese government why this task group has been deployed into our region, and we have not been informed what its plans are. We will continue to monitor these vessels,’’ she said.

The vessels’ appearance came after Canberra and Beijing traded barbs over an incident between a Chinese fighter jet and an Australian military plane.

Earlier this month, a People’s Liberation Army aircraft released flares some 30 metres from a Royal Australian Air Force jet which was patrolling the disputed South China Sea. 

(dpa/NAN)