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A possible circumnavigation of Australia is on the cards as the Chinese Navy taskforce heads west in their latest show of maritime power.
The New Zealand Defence Force has confirmed that three People's Liberation Army Navy war ships have continued in a westerly direction across the Great Australian Bight on February 28.
People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) Task Group 107 is comprised of the Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the Renhai-class Cruiser Zunyi, and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu.
Monitoring of the People's Republic of China vessels is being undertaken by Australian and New Zealand military assets, and the Anzac class frigate HMNZS Te Kaha remains in the region. New Zealand's maritime sustainment ship HMNZS Aotearoa has finished its replenishment tasks and is now heading for port.
Earlier this week, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles urged the public to 'take a deep breath', following news that the Chinese warships had travelled down the country's eastern coast and then conducted a live-fire exercise without standard notice procedures in international waters near civilian aviation routes.
Professor Peter Dean, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, said that the Chinese military is continuing to exercise a show of force and military capability in the region.
"This is about demonstrating Chinese naval capability and projecting power. By conducting a circumnavigation (of Australia) it is showing that the People's Liberation Army Navy have the ability to operate all the way around Australia," he said.
"(Australia's response) It's mixed. I think the Deputy Prime Minister (Marles) has a point that we shouldn't get too worked up about this. It is something new but we shouldn't over read this. They didn't break any international laws, but they did break a huge amount of international norms (with the live firing exercise).
"I think it has revealed some gaps in our government, military, civilian aviation and how that information is passed around.
"We should expect more of these (Chinese military exercises) to happen... there will be an expectation into the future that we will have to manage this type of operations."
In regards to the intelligence concerns of having the PLAN taskforce in Australian waters, Professor Dean confirmed that both militaries will be gathering information and assessing responses.
"It (intelligence gathering) does depend on the capabilities in those vessels themselves and depends on the type of response we have," he said.
"They will be using radar and other equipment to gather information about our coast and shipping.
"This is a part of the game all militaries play. You want to assess responses but you don't want to display the full range of your abilities.
"This visit has really highlighted the strategy behind the NDS (National Defence Strategy). It raises the question, is Defence and the government moving fast enough and funding defence enough?
"I think it brings home to us that we are on the right path (regarding improving military capability), but we aren't spending enough and not going fast enough. This just sharpens the pencil more and brings it home to the Australian public."