By Wu Ciaoxi | 2025-12-01

New Zealand's largest naval ship has made a rare passage through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, with Chinese forces shadowing the voyage as regional tensions over the waterway continue to simmer.

Defense Minister Judith Collins said the replenishment oiler HMNZS Aotearoa sailed through the strait on November 5 while transiting from the South China Sea to the North Asian region to support United Nations sanctions monitoring of North Korea, Reuters reported. The passage occurred in line with international law and freedom-of-navigation rights, said Collins.

"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 e-mail, according to Reuters.

The mission did not become public knowledge until late November. According to Reuters, a source with knowledge of the operation said Chinese naval vessels and aircraft closely tracked the oiler as it moved through the waterway.

Shadowed by 7 Chinese ships

The New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF) said seven Chinese warships operated in the vicinity of the Aotearoa and that interactions at sea remained safe and professional. A ship-borne helicopter stayed on deck in the strait because of weather conditions, officials said.

China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, says it alone holds sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing's military organized naval and air forces to monitor the Aotearoa during the transit, according to Chinese officials.

"We firmly oppose certain countries stirring up trouble in the Taiwan Straits and sending wrong signals to the 'Taiwan independence' forces," Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Jiang Bin said.

Taiwan's armed forces "maintain comprehensive awareness of all military activities across the region and respond appropriately, ensuring national defense security," said the island's Defense Ministry.

The transit coincided with Taiwan reporting that China had flown a "joint combat readiness patrol" around the island on November 6 involving J-16 fighter jets, with activity focused in and around the strait.

Enforcing international law

The voyage underlined Wellington's support for the international rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific, said Collins. New Zealand forces operate in disputed waters in line with long-standing practice and legal norms, she said.

"The NZDF conducts all activities in accordance with international law and best practice. By doing this, we are demonstrating our commitment to the international rules-based system in our near region -- the Indo-Pacific," she said, according to Radio New Zealand.

The South Korea-built Aotearoa is designed primarily as a logistics and resupply ship and does not carry heavy offensive weapons, though it can operate a helicopter and refuel other vessels at sea. It has been on deployment since September after maintenance in Singapore and is scheduled to spend several months in Northeast Asia on sanctions enforcement and regional engagement tasks.

New Zealand has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but like many countries, it maintains a de facto embassy in Taipei.

Like Singapore, it has a free trade agreement with Taiwan.

The New Zealand government portrays transits such as the Aotearoa's as routine movements consistent with its policy, even as China steps up air and naval activity around Taiwan and warns that it has not ruled out the use of force to bring the island under its control.

The New Zealand navy has conducted three publicly known transits of the Taiwan Strait in the past eight years -- in 2017, 2024 and 2025. The Aotearoa last sailed the waterway in September 2024 alongside an Australian warship. US and allied navies continue to stage periodic crossings that Beijing routinely denounces as provocative.