A Chinese frigate, auxiliary replenishment ship, and an amphibious vessel with 700 sailors docked in Sydney, Australia, for an unannounced visit on Monday amid rising anxieties about a rising China in the Indo-Pacific, according to Shanghai Morning Post.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was on a diplomatic trip at the time, in the Solomon Islands, a critical region in the South Pacific that China is trying to win over.
"It may have been a surprise to others, but it certainly wasn't a surprise to the government," Morrison told reporters in Solomon's capital Honiara. "We have known about that for some time."
Morrison called the port call a "reciprocal visit because Australian naval vessels have visited China."
"They were returning after a counter drug trafficking operation in the Middle East," he added.
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