We come in peace

But in secrecy too. Nobody knew they were coming, but here they are. Actually, the Government knew they were coming, or at least it said it did.

The three Chinese warships that suddenly appeared at Garden Island must be friendly. They're flying Australian flags as well as Chinese ones after all.

But it's been pointed out that the timing's interesting for several reasons. They were here for the Tiananmen Square massacre commemoration, and the Chinese diaspora here know that Beijing tries to keep a close watch on everything they do as it is. Then there's those reported clashes between their vessels and ours in the South China Sea, and the Australian Government's ban on using Huawei equipment in our 5G telephone network.

Plus we've had those high profile totalitarian-style police raids on journalists in the last couple of days. The sort of thing that happens in China all the time. Bizarre really!