Chinese ships now heading around WA coastline, Defence confirms

The trio of Chinese warships circling Australia are now off the WA coast, in line with Esperance, as Anthony Albanese insists the ADF is keeping a close eye on their movements. But the Prime Minister has refused to say whether reports that Papua New Guinea had a two-week heads-up about the Peoples Liberation Army-Navy movements were correct or passed on to Australia. Defence said the three ships — a frigate, a cruiser and a replenishment vessel — were about 1055km southeast of Perth on Sunday morning. The task group has been heading steadily west for the past week, after conducting…