Exercise Talisman Sabre, the largest ever war drills in Australia, is under way and expected to attract the attention of Chinese spy ships. Talisman Sabre began in 2005 as a biennial joint exercise between the United States and Australia.

This year, more than 35,000 military personnel from 19 nations, including Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom, will take part over three weeks, Australia’s Department of Defence said on Sunday.

Malaysia and Vietnam are also attending as observers.

The exercise will also take place in Papua New Guinea, Australia’s nearest neighbour. It is the first time Talisman Sabre activities have been held outside Australia.

Chinese surveillance ships have monitored naval exercises off the Australian coast during the last four Talisman Sabre exercises and were expected to surveil the current exercise, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said.

“We will adjust accordingly. We will obviously observe their activities and monitor their presence around Australia, but we will also adjust how we conduct those exercises,” Conroy said.

The exercise, showcasing Australia’s defence alliance with the US, started a day after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese began a six-day visit to China, where he is expected to meet President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday.

Albanese said Chinese surveillance of Talisman Sabre would not be raised with Xi. “That would be nothing unusual. That has happened in the past and I will continue to assert Australia’s national interest, as I do,” Albanese told reporters in Shanghai on Monday.

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