China’s deployment of a potent surface action group around Australia over the past two weeks is unprecedented but not unique. Over the past few years, China’s navy has deployed a range of vessels in Australia’s vicinity, including state-of-the-art warships, replenishment ships, intelligence-gathering ships, survey ships, satellite support ships and hospital ships.

Together, these deployments paint a picture of a country that is undertaking sweeping efforts to transform its navy into a formidable blue water force, capable of regularly projecting hard and soft power to our region.

China’s navy, now the largest in the world by number of vessels, has a vast range of ships that can undertake a broad scope of tasks and we have seen nearly all varieties of ship in our region in the past five years.

In October, China put on a show of force in the South Pacific by sending two warships to Port Vila in Vanuatu. One was a Type 055 cruiser, marking the first known deployment of this advanced warship class to the South Pacific. The deployment was intended to send a clear signal of China’s ability to project power beyond its traditional areas of influence.

Unlike the current action group circumnavigating Australia, Chinese warships are not typically accompanied by replenishment ships (the exception being a 2019 deployment that appeared in Sydney Harbour after conducting operations in the Gulf of Aden). The addition of replenishment ships to Chinese action groups enables greater force projection into the Pacific.

Chinese Type 815 intelligence ships are regular visitors to our region. Since 2017, China has been sending at least one such ship to Australia’s north to electronically eavesdrop on our biennial Talisman Sabre military exercise with the United States and other partners.  At the most recent Senate estimates hearing, Chief of Defence Force Admiral David Johnston noted that an intelligence ship had travelled as far as Sydney after the 2023 Talisman Sabre exercise.

China is also developing a habit of sending naval ships to our region during election periods. While many commentators have understood the significance of the timing of the current deployment around Australia, it has yet to be noted that China’s navy was also present in the weeks before the 2022 federal election. In May that year, China sent an intelligence ship to Australia’s north-west, including near the Harold E Holt Communication Station, a sensitive defence facility near Exmouth, Western Australia. At the time, that was already significant. Now China has upped the ante in 2025.

China’s navy sends a range of vessels to the Pacific for port calls and good-will visits. Last year China sent an air-defence destroyer to Tonga, joining 11 other navies in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Tonga Royal Navy. We now see regular Chinese navy visits to the Pacific, especially to the Pacific island countries that have militaries: Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Tonga.

China also pursues soft power in the Pacific through the deployment of the Peace Ark. The Peace Ark is one of two hospital ships that China’s navy uses to provide health services as part its soft-power diplomacy in the region. In 2023, the Peace Ark paid friendly visits to Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and East Timor. It stayed for around a week in each port, offering free medical services to local populations.

China’s navy also has a range of ships that are used for tracking satellites and intercontinental ballistic missiles—large ships with impressive arrays of dishes and scanners. Tracking ships of the Yuan Wang class regularly operate in the southern Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean west of Australia. Since China lacks ground stations elsewhere, these ships give it the ability to track launches and satellites that are not over its territory. (China operated a ground station in Kiribati for six years, but it closed in 2003.)

Finally, China has developed the world’s largest fleet of civilian research vessels. While many undertake missions for peaceful purposes, they also provide China’s military with important data about the world’s oceans. The Hidden Reach project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies does an amazing job of tracking these vessels and their ties to China’s military.

We are seeing more of these vessels in our vicinity, including off the north-west shelf of Australia. In early 2020, officials tracked the movements of a Chinese research vessel as it conducted deepwater surveys near Christmas Island. A Defence official said the ship was mapping waters used by Australian submarines to get to the South China Sea. It also spent much time in waters not far from the Harold E Holt Communication Station.

Like the current deployment, China’s naval activities in our region are consistent with international law. Operating a range of ships is also not unique to China. Most large countries, such as the US, Russia and France, maintain a variety of warships, space support vessels and research vessels that support military activities. However, the increasing number and variety of ships in our region sends a strong signal of China’s ability and intent to project hard and soft power.

This is our new reality. Monitoring and managing China’s growing naval presence in our region will place increasing strain on our military for years to come.