The GuardianA Chinese spy ship has been spotted off the coast of Queensland during a joint training exercise between Australian and US forces, the Australian Department of Defence has confirmed. The three-week training exercise in central Queensland has involved more than 33,000 personnel from Australia, the US, New Zealand, Japan and Canada. This week a fleet of 33 warships and submarines amassed off the coast of Rockhampton for a final exercise as the war games came to a close. “Australia respects the rights of all states to exercise freedom of navigation in international waters in accordance with international law,” the department said. However, Euan Graham, from the Lowy Institute, said the presence of the Chinese ship sent “an unfriendly message.”“I personally am not aware of any publicized appearance of an AGI off the Australian coast before,” he told the ABC.

Source: Taipei Times July 22, 2017 15:56 UTC