The provocation came in the wake of a tense standoff between Washington and Beijing over the collision of a U.S. spy plane with a Chinese fighter jet, and one day after U.S. president George Bush announced a package of military equipment for the government in Taipei, including destroyers, submarines, and advanced warplanes.

The conservative government of Prime Minister John Howard backed this belligerent stance by Washington toward the Chinese workers state. This led to an initial diplomatic warning from Beijing against interference in its bilateral relations.

The Australian flotilla was returning via Hong Kong from Pusan after joining in commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the Korean War. The Australian government committed military forces to that U.S.-led imperialist onslaught, which sought to drive back the Korean revolution and threaten the Chinese revolution.

Canberra has asserted that its warships had a right of "innocent passage" through Chinese waters. Alexander Downer, the Australian foreign minister, has tried to claim there was no link between the spy plane and warship incidents. Beijing insists that its permission should be sought for all such passages by foreign vessels, particularly warships.

The Sydney Morning Herald ran an editorial April 30 expressing unease at the Australian government's involvement in an "argument between giants," despite Canberra's close alliance with Washington. It repeated the concern of Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock that accords against "illegal immigration" by "boat people" from China to Australia could be jeopardized. News articles in the big business daily pointed out that considerable trade and investment by Australian companies in the huge market in China were also at stake.

On May 7 Washington resumed its provocative spy flights, sending an Air Force RC-135 from Okinawa, Japan, to just off the northeastern coast of China.

Ron Poulsen is a member of the Maritime Union of Australia.  
 
 
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