Australian ships and aircraft are in the South China Sea as part of “normal activities”, says a senior military officer.
The comment came as Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told the Lowy Institute in Sydney that Australia would object if China made a unilateral claim of an air defence zone over the sea.
Sixty per cent of Australia’s exports and 40 per cent of imports pass through the South China Sea.
But there are concerns that China is putting heavy weapons onto contested man-made islands before a declaration of an air defence zone.
Australian diplomats are seeking Chinese involvement in a code of conduct covering the region.
This would avoid action that “could raise tensions, could risk miscalculation or misjudgment and could ultimately end in some form of conflict”, Ms Bishop said today.