“They’re not telling us what they’re planning,” Collins told RNZ. “We’re taking them at face value that they are undertaking normal transits when it comes to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, that they’re not breaking the law.

“But as we’ve said, it is always better to give a lot more notice when it comes to live firing.”

The Chinese navy notified the Australian defence department shortly before the drill on Friday.

Collins told RNZ that assertions by China’s ambassador to New Zealand that appropriate advance notice of the drills had been given were “wrong”.