ANKARA

Australia on Monday said it is tracking a Chinese navy flotilla operating in the Philippine Sea amid concerns it could move toward Australian waters, local media reported.

Defense Minister Richard Marles said Canberra will monitor it closely until officials are confident the group is not heading toward Australia, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“We monitor it closely and do it through all of the geographic areas of interest and that includes as far away as north-east Asia, which is one of the stated areas of national interest,” he said.

Marles said the Australian Defense Force operates to the country’s north and maintains assets and capabilities “in our areas of key interest.” He declined to disclose the “direct source” of the monitoring effort.

“Be assured that we have maritime domain awareness across the areas and we know what is happening and we continue that,” he said.

Responding to Marles’ remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Chinese naval fleets “consistently respect and adhere” to international laws and conduct maritime activities in accordance with international legal norms, the state-run Global Times reported.