MELBOURNE, Australia — Airliners were over the Tasman Sea crossing between Australia and New Zealand when the Chinese navy warned they were flying over a secret live-fire exercise, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said on Friday.
Regulator Airservices Australia warned commercial pilots of a potential hazard in airspace between the countries as three Chinese warships conducted exercises off the Australian east coast.
But Marles said Australian authorities only learned about China's live-firing plans in international waters midway between Australia and New Zealand from the airlines.
“To be clear, we weren’t notified by China,” Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio in Perth.
“What China did was put out a notification that it was intending to engage in live firing. By that, I mean a broadcast that was picked up by airlines or literally ... commercial planes that were flying across the Tasman,” Marles said.
“This was very disconcerting for the planes that were flying,” he added.
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Regulator Airservices Australia warned commercial pilots of a potential hazard in airspace between the countries as three Chinese warships conducted exercises off the Australian east coast.
But Marles said Australian authorities only learned about China's live-firing plans in international waters midway between Australia and New Zealand from the airlines.
“To be clear, we weren’t notified by China,” Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio in Perth.
“What China did was put out a notification that it was intending to engage in live firing. By that, I mean a broadcast that was picked up by airlines or literally ... commercial planes that were flying across the Tasman,” Marles said.
“This was very disconcerting for the planes that were flying,” he added.
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China Issued 'Disconcerting' Warning of Live-Fire Exercises to Planes Flying Above, Australia Says
Airliners were over the Tasman Sea crossing between Australia and New Zealand when the Chinese navy warned they were flying over a secret live-fire exercise, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said.
