New Zealand’s largest naval vessel, the oiler HMNZS Aotearoa, sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait earlier this month, Defence Minister Judith Collins confirmed to Reuters. The previously unreported mission highlights Wellington’s quiet but firm support for freedom of navigation in international waters, amid growing tension in the region.
Monitored by Chinese Forces During Transit
A source familiar with the operation said Chinese forces tracked and followed the Aotearoa as it passed through the strait. The source added that Chinese jets carried out simulated attack manoeuvres during the transit.
While Collins declined to comment on any Chinese military activity, she emphasised that the operation fully complied with international law. “This includes exercising the right to freedom of navigation, as guaranteed under the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea,” she said in an email response.
According to the minister, the ship travelled from the South China Sea to the North Asian region via the Taiwan Strait on 5 November.
Beijing Claims Sovereignty, But Others Disagree
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own and insists that it alone has sovereignty over the Taiwan Strait. However, both the United States and Taiwan maintain that the strait is an international waterway vital to global trade, with nearly half of the world’s container ships passing through it.
The Chinese defence ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Taiwan’s defence ministry said its armed forces “maintain comprehensive awareness of all military activities across the region and respond appropriately, ensuring national defence security.”
Regional Context and Strategic Significance
The last publicly known transit by a New Zealand naval ship through the Taiwan Strait occurred in September 2023, when the Aotearoa sailed alongside an Australian vessel. Before that, New Zealand’s navy had not made such a passage since 2017.
The latest voyage coincided with Taiwan reporting a “joint combat readiness patrol” by China on 6 November involving J-16 fighter jets operating around the strait and to the island’s southwest.
Built in South Korea, the Aotearoa is a replenishment vessel equipped to carry a helicopter but lacks heavy armaments. The New Zealand Defence Force said last month that the ship would take part in UN sanctions enforcement missions around Japan, related to North Korea.
New Zealand, like most countries, does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but maintains a close economic and political relationship. It is one of only two major nations, along with Singapore, that have a free trade agreement with Taipei.
Regular transits by US, Canadian, and British warships through the strait often draw strong protests from Beijing, which has increased military activities around Taiwan in recent years and continues to threaten force to assert its claims.
Taiwan’s government firmly rejects Beijing’s sovereignty assertions, insisting that only its people have the right to determine the island’s future.
(with inputs from Reuters)
