OPINION | Australia's freedom-of-navigation activities raise more questions than answers

A freedom of navigation activity that the Australian and British navies jointly conducted near the Spratly Islands last month was notable. It was the first they’d done together, following a joint Australia and New Zealand transit of the Taiwan Strait in September.

However, the subdued nature of the Australian government’s confirmation of the activity and a missed opportunity to sail through the Taiwan Strait with a British vessel raise more questions than they provide answers.

On June 24, Britain’s Ministry of Defence posted on social media a picture of HMAS Sydney, one of Australia’s three destroyers, and HMS Spey, a small, lightly armed patrol ship and one of two such British vessels currently forward deployed in the Indo-Pacific region.

This was captioned, "HMS Spey and HMAS Sydney have just conducted freedom of navigation activity around the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, in accordance with UNCLOS," the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

This revelation prompted questions from the Australian media to the Department of Defence.