SYDNEY (AFP) - Chinese warships arrived in Sydney Friday ahead of the first joint military exercises between Australia and the Asian nation, with officials saying more operations were planned.
Australian defence minister Brendan Nelson said next week's joint exercises involving the Australian, Chinese and New Zealand navies signalled closer military cooperation between Beijing and Canberra.
"At this stage I would expect that primarily we would be looking at naval exercises but we will also be having discussions between our air force and obviously our army," Nelson told reporters.
"Some of those discussions have already commenced," he added as he welcomed the guided-missile destroyer Haebin and supply ship Hongzehu into Sydney Harbour.
While the United States has expressed concerns about China's increasing military muscle, Nelson said the joint exercises showed Beijing recognised it needed to be open and transparent about its growing capability.
"I think if people are looking for evidence of increased efforts by Chinese military and political leadership for transparency, look no further than the visit by these two Chinese warships to Australia and the fact that we'll be doing joint exercises with our navy and New Zealand," he said.
The three navies will conduct joint search and rescue exercises next week in the Tasman Sea.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed at a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in Sydney earlier this month to hold annual security summits.
At the same time Australia, which has strong trade ties with China, sought to assure Beijing that new trilateral security talks it has entered into with Japan and the United States are not aimed at isolating China.
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