Chinese warships make ‘unusual’ voyage near US ally Australia

AustralianMinisterforDefenseRichardMarleslabelsitan‘unusualevent’asChinesemilitaryshipstraversewatersoffAustralia’scoast.(SkyNews) Australiais“keepingclosewatchon”Chinesemilitaryshipstraversingwatersoffitscoast,RichardMarles,Australia’sDeputyPrimeMinisterandMinisterforDefense,notedduringaninterviewonSkyNewsAustralia. Marlessaidthattheships“havebeenabidingbyinternationallaw,”thoughhedescribedthesituationas“notunprecedented,butanunusualevent.”  Hesaidthatwhiletheshipshavetherighttobelocatedininternationalwaters,Australiahastherighttosurveiltheships. CHINAOUTRAGEDAFTERTRUMPSTATEDEPARTMENTDELETESKEYPHRASEONTAIWANRELATIONS People’sLiberationArmy-NavyJiangkai-classfrigateHengyang.(AustralianDepartmentofDefence) “DefenceisawareofaPeople’sLiberationArmy-Navy(PLA-N)taskgroupoperatingtothenortheastofAustralia,”aFeb.13AustralianDepartmentofDefensestatementno