22nd February 2026 – (Beijing) A Chinese military source has said the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) closely monitored and tracked an Australian naval vessel as it sailed through the Taiwan Strait last week.
According to the source, the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Toowoomba transited the strait between Friday and Saturday (20th – 21st February), with Chinese forces maintaining full surveillance and alert operations throughout the passage.
The military monitoring account “Taiwan ADIZ”, which regularly reports on activity around Taiwan’s surrounding airspace and waters, noted on Friday that the frigate had entered the strait. It added that the ship’s embarked helicopter at one point approached the median line of the waterway, prompting Taiwan’s armed forces to issue radio warnings ordering it to leave the area.
Mainland Chinese media outlets reported that the vessel had just concluded a trilateral maritime patrol exercise involving the United States, the Philippines and Australia before proceeding northbound through the strait. They alleged that after reaching a point roughly 120 nautical miles north-west of the Penghu Islands, the frigate altered course rather than following what they described as the usual international shipping route. Instead, it was said to have edged closer to the territorial waters and contiguous zone off Fujian province, a move characterised as provocative.
Reports further claimed that the ship’s helicopter flew unusually close to the Fujian coastline, approaching the vicinity of Wuqiu Islet. In response, a PLA Z-10 attack helicopter reportedly entered the area at speed with its transponder activated, prompting the Australian vessel to manoeuvre away.
HMAS Toowoomba is one of the Royal Australian Navy’s principal surface combatants. Its appearance near the median line of the Taiwan Strait on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year holiday drew significant attention from military observers, underscoring what analysts describe as increasingly frequent operations by foreign naval and air assets in the strategically sensitive waterway.
The frigate also sailed through the Taiwan Strait in November 2023, travelling from north to south. At the time, Australian officials said the vessel had been subjected to sonar activity from a Chinese warship during its transit.