Chinese Warships Get Lonely Too, and Like to Follow Other Ships! By James Reed

If this was not so deadly, one could imagine a children’s cartoon being made of it, as lonely warships follow each other. But this is communist China in the real world, and that means using military might for intimidation. The Minister for Defence, and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, did not elaborate on the report that HMAS Parramatta was shadowed by a Type 052C “Luyang II” guided-missile destroyer and a Type 093-A “Shang II” nuclear-powered attack submarine, in international waters on its way to perform military exercises with the Japanese navy. Pretty obviously the message here was we could sink your totally dated war ship any time we like. And, it is probably true, too.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/chinese-military-allegedly-shadows-australian-warship-in-international-waters_4597288.html?utm_source=morningbriefnoe&utm_campaign=Aomb-2022-07-15&utm_medium=Aoemail&est=aO%2FhLBF2iFkFs3lpkjFwstNYAf2lm6ktl%2BoyoQ4g4UV1TN45Hm6FxDPC3AyiA6%2F7rI6JzIY2oQc%3D

“The Australian defence minister has said the department of defence will not discuss a recent allegation that the Chinese military shadowed an Australian warship as it sailed through international waters on its way to perform military exercises with the Japanese navy.

This comes after the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on July 14, alleged that a defence source told the media outlet that an Australian naval vessel was shadowed by a nuclear-powered submarine, a warship, and several aircraft during this period.

“Formal challenges have occurred, such as telling us that we’re entering ‘China’s territorial waters,” the source allegedly told the ABC. “The most intense activity occurred as HMAS Parramatta was in the East China Sea.”

The ABC report alleged that the HMAS Parramatta was closely followed by a Type 052C “Luyang II” guided-missile destroyer and a Type 093-A “Shang II” nuclear-powered attack submarine when it passed through the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and then Taiwan.

Australian Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles declined to give more information on the incident when speaking to the ABC on Thursday.

“I won’t go into details around that, other than to say that what our military does, what our navy, does in the South China Sea is routine,” Marles told the ABC.

“It’s been doing it for decades, and it is focused on asserting the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: freedom of navigation, freedom of overflight, the global rules-based order, which I’ve been describing as being so important for our national interest.”

However, the Minister did note the government may make a public disclosure of the incident at a later time.

“That may happen in the future again, but what we are focused on first and foremost is doing the activity because that’s in our national interest,” he said.

The Australian Department of Defense also did not confirm any details about the alleged incident to The Epoch Times.

“HMAS Parramatta is currently undertaking a Regional Presence Deployment, conducting a number of Navy-to-Navy activities with Australia’s regional partners and participating in various maritime exercises,” a departmental spokesperson said in an email to The Epoch Times.”