Dzirhan Mahadzir – December 5, 2025 4:32 PM
The Australian Defense Force is monitoring a four-ship People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) task group operating in the Philippine Sea, officials said Wednesday.
“We are aware the task group is composed of four ships, a Yushen landing helicopter dock assault, a Renhai-class cruiser, a Jiangkai-class frigate and Fuchi-class replenishment vessel, an Australian P-8 observed the task group on the evening of the second of December in the Philippine Sea, approximately 500 nautical miles north of Palau,” Adm. David Johnson, chief of Australia’s defense force, told the Australian Senate during a committee hearing Wednesday.
Johnson did not specify the names of the ships but satellite imagery company Vantor, in a release provided to USNI News, said the task group was made up of cruiser CNS Yan’an (106), a Type 054/054A frigate, amphibious assault ship CNS Hainan (31) and fleet oiler CNS Luomahu (907).
“We will continue to monitor this task group as we learn more about its direction, its purpose and intent,” Johnson said in the Senate hearing.
Australian Senator Sarah Henderson asked if the Defense Department considered it likely that the PLAN task group would make its way to near Australia’s waters. In response, Johnson said it was possible given that in the past, similar PLAN task groups had operated in the Philippine Sea and subsequently headed out to either the Western Pacific, Southwest Pacific or near Australia.
Johnson said he is confident in the ADF’s capability, alongside its partners, in monitoring the PLAN task group and its ability to provide continuous information and advice to the Australian government on the movements of the Chinese warships operating in the area.
“If they move into the southwest Pacific, we would work with our Pacific partners in that area, the French in New Caledonia – so it very much depends on where the ships might proceed. Of course, we work closely with the United States at all times to bring the best of our capabilities together,” Johnson said.
According to Johnson, if the Chinese task group sails closer to Australia, the defense department will deploy air-based surveillance, maritime-based surveillance, and where relevant, use other capabilities available.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles confirmed in a press conference Monday that Australia was tracking the PLAN task group.
“We do not have a sense of where [the task group] is going, but we continue to monitor it as we monitor all movements until we know that task groups are not coming to Australia. We’re not about to give a running commentary on movements of all Chinese Navy vessels,” Marles said at the time, according to a transcript.
During a China Ministry of National Defense (MND) press conference on Friday, MND spokesperson Snr. Col. Jiang Bin issued a brief reply when asked about Australia’s tracking of the PLAN task group.
“The Chinese naval fleet’s organization of far-sea training is in accordance with international law and practice and is not directed against any specific country or target,” said Jiang, who did not elaborate further or detail the composition of the task group.
In February and March of this year, a PLAN task group consisting of cruiser CNS Zunyi (107), frigate CNS Hengyang (568) and fleet oiler CNS Weishanhu (887) operated around Australia, circumnavigating the continent and conducting a live fire drill in the Tasman Sea, which disrupted commercial flights over the area. The movements of the PLAN task group were shadowed throughout its transit by Australian and New Zealand warships, along with Australian P-8s.
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) currently has no ships deployed outside of Australia. Frigate HMAS Ballarat (FFH155) recently completed the fourth and final Regional Presence Deployment for 2025 with the next regional presence deployment scheduled for January 2026, according to an Australian Defense Department release published Thursday. Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8 Poseidons routinely stage out of Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore to conduct maritime surveillance in the Indo-Pacific.
PLAN 989 task group comprising of amphibious transport dock Changbai Shan (989), training ships CNS Zheng He (81) and CNS Xiangqianjin-1 (88) wrapped up a four-day port visit to Port Klang, Malaysia, on Wednesday and is now sailing the Malacca Strait on its way to Indonesia. The task group, which departed Nov. 15 from China, is conducting a training cruise for midshipmen from the PLA’s naval engineering and aviation universities.
Meanwhile in Singapore, the PLAN’s 47th Chinese Naval Escort Task Force comprising of destroyer CNS Baotou (133), frigate CNS Honghe (523) and fleet oiler CNS Gaoyouhu (904) pulled into Changi Naval Base on Monday for a port visit en route to its homeport of Zhoushan, China, following a deployment to the Gulf of Aden. The task group left China on Dec. 15, 2024.
Since 2008, Beijing has continuously deployed a naval task force to the region to escort Chinese merchant and fishery ships in the Gulf of Aden, and so its warships can conduct exercises in the region. In March, Baotou and Gaoyouhu carried out drills with Iranian and Russian warships as part of the trilateral Maritime Security Belt 2025 drills held in the Gulf of Oman.
Dzirhan Mahadzir
Dzirhan Mahadzir is a freelance defense journalist and analyst based in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Among the publications he has written for and currently writes for since 1998 includes Defence Review Asia, Jane’s Defence Weekly, Navy International, International Defence Review, Asian Defence Journal, Defence Helicopter, Asian Military Review and the Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter.