Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama has made it clear that the the Chinese vessel docked at the Suva Wharf is a satellite tracking ship.
While speaking to Legend FM News, Bainimarama said this ship and her sister ships have been using Suva as a port of call to take on bunker and fresh food supplies.
Bainimarama also says that the crew goes shopping and eat in restaurants here in Fiji, and every trip into Fiji put millions of dollars into our economy.
The Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Fiji, Qian Bo has also said that the Australian media reports that China had a spy ship docked next to the Australian military vessel, HMAS Adelaide in Suva, are nonsense.
Ambassador Bo says these spy ship reports are totally misleading as the Chinese ship is a satellite tracking vessel which has been coming to Fiji for some time.
The ABC had reported over the weekend that the Chinese ship fitted with communications equipment docked alongside the new Canberra‑class landing helicopter dock, was suspected to be a spy ship.
It had reported that the vessel deliberately arrived at the same time to carry out surveillance on the Australians.
