00:02Well, the main message, I think, Lorna, that Penny Wong wants to send is that these tests
00:07are destabilising, that they're risky and that they're unwelcome in the region.
00:11Now we did see a fairly strong response, including from Pacific nations, over this test. And
00:16of course it also comes, this meeting in the backdrop, of more confrontations between China
00:21and the Philippines in the South China Sea, including a confrontation a couple of days
00:26ago with both sides trading accusations. So Penny Wong basically has used her meeting
00:32with Wang Yi to try and urge China to provide more reassurance about what it's doing, to
00:38abide by the rules of the sea and the rules of law more broadly, whether that's in the
00:46South China Sea or more broadly, and has also been keen to make the point that many Pacific
00:51nations regarded the missile that was launched earlier this month as a deeply disturbing and
00:57destabilising act. Now, we heard from Penny Wong earlier today at a press conference in Manila.
01:04That's where she met Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting. Let's take a quick listen
01:09to what she had to say.
01:11I think the answer to the last part is very much yes. And we have made clear publicly and
01:17directly to China that we regard the missile test as destabilising. And we have put that
01:26publicly and we have put that directly to Foreign Minister Wang Yi in my discussions yesterday.
01:33More broadly, on the South China Sea, I also have made public comments about the incident involving
01:40the members of the Philippines Navy and the Chinese personnel. We have said we have real concerns
01:51about behaviour that is destabilising and risky.
01:58Yeah, the Philippines has had multiple clashes with China in the South China Sea in recent years, hasn't it?
02:04Yeah, it has. We've seen a number of these confrontations. And interestingly, Penny Wong has not shied away from that.
02:10During this press conference, she also fielded questions from local journalists about the most recent confrontations.
02:18And she described China's behaviour in the South China Sea as, quote, destabilising and risky,
02:25saying that countries across the region had a choice to make about how they responded,
02:29saying they had to do what they could to assert the rule of law and the rule of behaviour that
02:35they
02:35want to see across the region. Now, interestingly, China's Foreign Ministry has just held its
02:40usual press conference. We don't yet have a grab from that, but a transcript has already come
02:46through. And it looks like the Foreign Ministry has issued a fairly sharp rebuke to Penny Wong in
02:51that press conference, saying a small number of countries, this is in response to a question
02:56about Penny Wong's comments, were trying to incite confrontation, essentially saying that Penny Wong and
03:02others should butt out from the conflict because they're not a direct party to it. So it looks like there
03:08was some fairly sharp criticism there. Of course, Australia's point is that even though it's not
03:12actually a party to this dispute, it does have implications for the region and for the globe,
03:18which is why Australia and others have a stake in what happens in the South China Sea. That's also
03:23why Australia is doing quite a bit to back in the Philippines Coast Guard as well, including
03:27recently during this visit by Penny Wong announcing a new drones package worth around $10 million to hand
03:32over new technology to the Philippines Navy and Coast Guard.
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