If the presence mission is one of the most important missions of a peacetime navy, then it would be fair to surmise that the port visit to a foreign nation is the pointy-end of that mission, the most critical, the most impactful, the most well considered.

Most readers here have had a few port visits under their belt – some more memorable than others, but most know the drill; you look your best, evaluate your liberty risk program, make sure you have a good husbanding agent, and have a good idea what and where your Sailors will be in context to where you are going.

You also know that the port being visited is doing their part as well; informing the public, planning a welcome that is appropriate, and thinking if the ships coming up have a liberty risk program in line with what you hope they have. You check services and facilities and make sure your public safety and businesses have a good idea where the visiting Sailors will be and what they will be doing.

The visited and the visitor both get to show the flag, do some cultural exchanging, and if things go right, business and diplomacy all win.

That seems basic and even banal … and it should. That is why this visit by the Chinese Navy to Australia has just layers and layers of … hmmmm.

INFO OPS professionals should ponder this visit by the 31st Escort Force that deployed from Zhanjiang Dec 9th 2018 in detail while their friends in Public Affairs war-game this out.

Understandably, the arrival caused quite a stir, with many questioning why the public wasn’t informed and pointing out the controversial timing of the visit with the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

The arrival of three Chinese warships into Sydney Harbour on Monday morning came as a huge surprise to most Australians.

Their visit was kept so quiet that even the NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian wasn’t aware Sydney’s Garden Island would be playing host to three huge naval ships and more than 700 foreign sailors.

Diplomacy minded people should pro-con if this clunky visit brought anything of value to Australia.

Local civic political leaders should sit down with their military liaisons and go over what happened here and why.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s offhand assurance it was not a surprise and no more than a “reciprocal visit” didn’t do much to quell the questions about why the public was left in the dark.

“It may have been a surprise to others, but it certainly wasn’t a surprise to the Government,” Mr Morrison told reports during his trip to the Solomon Islands capital Honiara.

National security professionals should look with a cold eye at timing, who did and did not know, and as always … who benefits.

The three vessels currently docked in Garden Island include the frigate Xuchang fitted with surface-to-air and anti-submarine missile systems, the auxiliary replenishment ship Luoma Hu and the landing helicopter dock Kunlun Shan.

Here is a very interesting angle;

While experts continue to debate the reasons the general public, and even the NSW Premier, weren’t notified of the Chinese naval visit, one group of people were more than prepared for the arrival.

Photos from yesterday show members of the Chinese community waiting to greet the warships in Sydney Harbour.
…
Onlookers proudly waved Australian and Chinese flags as the ships made their way into the harbour.

It is clear members of the local Chinese community had access to information of the naval arrival that the rest of the public didn’t.

Not sure who approved this CONOPS, but talk about signaling a weak horse.

He said while it wasn’t normal to announce the date of the arrival of foreign warships, the Government made a mistake in trying to keep it a secret.

“A compromise could have been announcing they would be visiting this week, which doesn’t give away excessive information but still lets the public know,” Mr Graham said.

“Not saying anything doesn’t really work as you can’t hide three massive warships coming straight into Sydney Harbour.”

The Chinese ships are expected to stay in Sydney until Friday.