WELLINGTON: A Chinese naval cruiser fired live rounds Saturday during a task force drill in the sea between Australia and New Zealand, government officials said, prompting an alert to commercial air traffic.
It was the Chinese warships’ second exercise in two days in international waters of the Tasman Sea, held despite Canberra and Wellington raising concerns over a lack of prior notice.
Australia and close ally New Zealand have been monitoring the three Chinese navy vessels – a frigate, a cruiser and a supply tanker – since they were spotted off Australia’s shores last week.
Personnel on a New Zealand naval frigate “observed live rounds being fired from the Zunyi’s main gun, as would be expected during the course of such an exercise,” New Zealand Defense Minister Judith Collins’ office said in a statement.
The three Chinese ships were in international waters in the Tasman Sea at the time, her office said.
“As happened yesterday, the Chinese Task Group advised via radio channels of its intent to conduct live firing,” it said.
“Defense is working with the NZ Civil Aviation Authority to ensure all aircraft are notified. The safety of all people, aircraft and vessels in the area remains our paramount concern.”
New Zealand said its concerns over notification times and best practice would be “communicated appropriately.”
Australia said Saturday it had not yet received a satisfactory explanation from Beijing for Friday’s drill, in which the warships broadcast a “disconcerting” live-fire warning that forced commercial flights to change course.
In Friday’s exercise, “no weapon firings were heard or seen” from the Chinese task force despite it temporarily deploying a floating firing target, Canberra said.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said that while China abided by international law, it did not follow best practice of giving 12-24 hours’ notice, and Canberra had raised this with Beijing.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong had also discussed it directly with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Johannesburg.
Beijing has described Friday’s maneuvers as training exercises that were “safe, standard and professional” and in line with international law, without commenting on whether live ammunition was used.
It was the latest in a string of tense encounters between China and Australia in the increasingly contested airspace and shipping lanes of the Asia-Pacific region.
Last week, Canberra rebuked Beijing for “unsafe” military conduct, accusing a Chinese fighter jet of dropping flares near an Australian air force plane patrolling the South China Sea.
A Chinese fighter jet was accused of intercepting an Australian Seahawk helicopter in international airspace in 2024, dropping flares across its flight path.
In 2023, a Chinese destroyer was accused of bombarding submerged Australian navy divers with sonar pulses in waters off Japan, causing minor injuries.
The Australian government says it respects the right of all states to pass through international waters and airspace.
The United States and its allies including Australia frequently cross through the 180-kilometer Taiwan Strait to reinforce its status as an international waterway, angering China, which claims jurisdiction over the waters.
New Zealand: Chinese naval vessel fires live rounds in new drill
https://arab.news/y2xn5
New Zealand: Chinese naval vessel fires live rounds in new drill
- It was the Chinese warships’ second exercise in two days in international waters of the Tasman Sea
- Australia said Saturday it had not yet received a satisfactory explanation from Beijing for Friday’s drill
Tens of thousands protest in Minneapolis over fatal ICE shooting
- Federal-state tensions escalated further on Thursday when a US Border Patrol agent in Portland, Oregon, shot and wounded a man and woman in their car after an attempted vehicle stop
MINNEAPOLIS: Tens of thousands of people marched through Minneapolis on Saturday to decry the fatal shooting of a woman by a US immigration agent, part of more than 1,000 rallies planned nationwide this weekend against the federal government’s deportation drive. The massive turnout in Minneapolis despite a whipping, cold wind underscores how the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Wednesday has struck a chord, fueling protests in major cities and some towns. Minnesota’s Democratic leaders and the administration of President Donald Trump, a Republican, have offered starkly different accounts of the incident.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Minneapolis police estimate tens of thousands present at protests on Saturday
• Mayor urges protesters to remain peaceful and not ‘take the bait’ from Trump
• Over 1,000 ‘ICE Out’ rallies planned across US
• Minnesota Democrats denied access to ICE facility outside Minneapolis
Led by a team of Indigenous Mexican dancers, demonstrators in Minneapolis, which has a metropolitan population of 3.8 million, marched toward the residential street where Good was shot in her car.
’HEARTBROKEN AND DEVASTATED’
The boisterous crowd, which the Minneapolis Police Department estimated in the tens of thousands, chanted Good’s name and slogans such as “Abolish ICE” and “No justice, no peace — get ICE off our streets.”
“I’m insanely angry, completely heartbroken and devastated, and then just like longing and hoping that things get better,” Ellison Montgomery, a 30-year-old protester, told Reuters.
Minnesota officials have called the shooting unjustified, pointing to bystander video they say showed Good’s vehicle turning away from the agent as he fired. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has maintained that the agent acted in self-defense because Good, a volunteer in a community network that monitors and records ICE operations in Minneapolis, drove forward in the direction of the agent who then shot her, after another agent had approached the driver’s side and told her to get out of the car.
The shooting on Wednesday came soon after some 2,000 federal officers were dispatched to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in what DHS has called its largest operation ever, deepening a rift between the administration and Democratic leaders in the state. Federal-state tensions escalated further on Thursday when a US Border Patrol agent in Portland, Oregon, shot and wounded a man and woman in their car after an attempted vehicle stop. Using language similar to its description of the Minneapolis incident, DHS said the driver had tried to “weaponize” his vehicle and run over agents.
The two DHS-related shootings prompted a coalition of progressive and civil rights groups, including Indivisible and the American Civil Liberties Union, to plan more than 1,000 events under the banner “ICE Out For Good” on Saturday and Sunday. The rallies have been scheduled to end before nightfall to minimize the potential for violence.
In Philadelphia, protesters chanted “ICE has got to go” and “No fascist USA,” as they marched from City Hall to a rally outside a federal detention facility, according to the local ABC affiliate. In Manhattan, several hundred people carried anti-ICE signs as they walked past an immigration court where agents have arrested migrants following their hearings.
“We demand justice for Renee, ICE out of our communities, and action from our elected leaders. Enough is enough,” said Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of Indivisible.
DEMONSTRATIONS MOSTLY PEACEFUL
Minnesota became a major flashpoint in the administration’s efforts to deport millions of immigrants months before the Good shooting, with Trump criticizing its Democratic leaders amid a massive welfare fraud scandal involving some members of the large Somali-American community there.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat who has been critical of immigration agents and the shooting, told a press conference earlier on Saturday that the demonstrations have remained mostly peaceful and that anyone damaging property or engaging in unlawful activity would be arrested by police.
“We will not counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos,” Frey said. “He wants us to take the bait.”
More than 200 law enforcement officers were deployed Friday night to control protests that led to $6,000 in damage at the Depot Renaissance Hotel and failed attempts by some demonstrators to enter the Hilton Canopy Hotel, believed to house ICE agents, the City of Minneapolis said in a statement.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara said some in the crowd scrawled graffiti and damaged windows at the Depot Renaissance Hotel. He said the gathering at the Hilton Canopy Hotel began as a “noise protest” but escalated as more than 1,000 demonstrators converged on the site, leading to 29 arrests.
“We initiated a plan and took our time to de-escalate the situation, issued multiple warnings, declaring an unlawful assembly, and ultimately then began to move in and disperse the crowd,” O’Hara said.
HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES TURNED AWAY FROM ICE FACILITY
Three Minnesota congressional Democrats showed up at a regional ICE headquarters near Minneapolis on Saturday morning, where protesters have clashed with federal agents this week, but were denied access. Legislators called the denial illegal.
“We made it clear to ICE and DHS that they were violating federal law,” US Representative Angie Craig told reporters as she stood outside the Whipple Federal Building in St. Paul with Representatives Kelly Morrison and Ilhan Omar.
Federal law prohibits DHS from blocking members of Congress from entering ICE detention sites, but DHS has increasingly restricted such oversight visits, prompting confrontations with Democratic lawmakers.
“It is our job as members of Congress to make sure those detained are treated with humanity, because we are the damn United States of America,” Craig said.
Referencing the damage and protests at Minneapolis hotels overnight, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the congressional Democrats were denied entry to ensure “the safety of detainees and staff, and in compliance with the agency’s mandate.” She said DHS policies require members of Congress to notify ICE at least seven days in advance of facility visits.
