NZ defence minister warns of ‘extremely capable’ Chinese warships in Tasman Sea

News Snapshot:

New Zealand's Defence Minister Judith Collins has warned that the Chinese naval task group conducting military exercises in the Tasman Sea is "extremely capable", with one of the warships carrying ballistic missiles with a range of about 1,000 kilometres. It comes after China's Ministry of Defence accused Australia and New Zealand of "hyping" their response to two separate live fire drills conducted by the ships on Friday and Saturday, which forced commercial airlines to divert flights. Wu Qian, a defence ministry spokesperson, insisted that China's actions were "in full compliance with international law and international practices" and took aim at...