The Australian battleship group passed near Vietnam's Spratly Islands and may have encountered Chinese naval vessels last week.

5 Australian Navy warships last week operated in the South China Sea and moved near Vietnam's Spratly Islands, before joining forces with US and Japanese forces in the Philippine Sea for joint exercises, ABC News on 22nd.

Australia's fleet of ships does not move into the 12-nautical-mile area around the Spratly Islands as US warships often do during free-ship patrol operations in the South China Sea.

The Australian Defense Force (ADF), in a statement confirming the warship group near the Spratly Islands last week, said Australian warships had "unexpectedly encountered foreign warships" during their voyage,

ABC News said the group of Australian ships encountered the Chinese navy, but "the exact location is unknown".

The US Navy, Australia and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces will conduct joint exercises in the Philippine Sea on July 19-21 to demonstrate their commitment to the "Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy.

The exercise was held in the context of the US, Japan and Australia criticizing China's aggressive moves in the western Pacific region, including the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

Military commanders of the three countries in July issued a joint statement condemning the use of force or coercion to "change the status quo" in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, confirming the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight.

China unilaterally drew a "nine-dash line" to claim unreasonable territorial claims for much of the South China Sea, despite international law.

Paths of US, Japanese and Australian warships passing through the Philippines for joint exercises in the Philippine Sea.

The US has repeatedly criticized China's moves in the region, including building up artificial islands, building military airfields and deploying weapons there.

China has recently implemented many drastic activities after Covid-19 to put pressure on surrounding countries and territories.

In the South China Sea, China carried out a series of aggressive activities such as sending the Hai Duong 8 geological survey ship into the exclusive economic zone of Vietnam and then following the Malaysian drilling ship, allowing the maritime vessel to sink its fishing vessels.