Sydney: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday said that Australia was monitoring a Chinese research ship in the country’s exclusive economic zone.
“It’s been in New Zealand on a joint research operation,” Albanese said when asked about the vessel by a journalist in Perth. According to Australian media, the Chinese vessel is a high-tech research ship. “This isn’t the first time that a similar vessel has been around the Australian coast. It occurred in 2020, for example ... Australia, as you would expect, is monitoring this,” Albanese said. Asked if he knew what sort of research the vessel was conducting and what his government has done to “protect undersea cables,” Albanese said he would not, “for obvious reasons, broadcast everything that we’re doing. But we are keeping an eye on this.” (DPA)
